With Tennessee’s unemployment rate declining at a rapid pace, school systems across the state are rallying the troops to prepare students for the professional world.
Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) – Elizabethton helped with the initiative Tuesday morning by hosting different school systems from the regional and business partners for a meeting in regards to the Every Student Success Act (ESSA) passed by the state to encourage opportunities for students to receive work-based training and experience.
TCAT partnered with Beacon Technologies, based out of Nashville, to host the get-together to open the dialogue with schools, according to TCAT President Dean Blevins.
“Today’s meeting is about starting the dialogue with schools across the area,” Blevins said Tuesday. “This is the first of many meetings we’ll have with different districts. We want the schools to discuss what they’re currently offering, learn about what we have, and how we can work together as far ESSA is concerned and how we can equip students to be better prepared for postsecondary school and the workforce.”
Several schools from the region were in attendance, including Elizabethton City and Carter County.
Tennessee’s Department of Education has bolstered the educational atmosphere of the state with different initiatives, including Tennessee Promise and the recent addition of Tennessee Reconnect — a program encouraging adults who haven’t finished school. Community colleges and technical schools have been able to reap the benefits of promoting educational opportunities for students.
“Our claim to fame is preparing young adults to go into the world of work through career technical training,” Blevins said. “We already offer some dual enrollment and dual credit opportunities. The biggest thing we’re able to do is our industry certifications and our mobile industry lab.”
Organizing a workforce has been a recent claim of fame for the state. Government officials recently announced that for a fifth month in a row, Tennessee’s unemployment rate set record in October for being at 3.0 percent.
“Folks are working but they need retraining and they’re able to increase their skill base,” Blevins said. “Employment is great so our  focus now is to help our business partners by training the workforce.”
Throughout the day, attendees were able to learn the benefits of dual enrollment, dual credit, NC3 certification, 3D printing and how resources can be combined to further the grow in the region.
Moving forward, Blevins said the goal is continual work with local educators and utilizing different resources at their disposal. Dr. Richard Kitzmiller, with the Niswonger Foundation, was one of the attendees. The Niswonger Foundation was instrumental in using telemedicine opportunities to allow students a chance to see a nurse. One hope moving forward, according to Blevins, is using resources to have more opportunities available for students through other avenues, like through teleconferencing.