WESTSIDE — "Build it and they will come" was the philosophy of Ray Kinsella about building a baseball diamond in his Iowa cornfields. Richard Page, superintendent of Gravette schools, had that same thought about a regional career education center and now he has seen that dream become reality in the Western Benton County Career Center. Seeing the great need for further education for those students who are not college bound, Page has been working on the concept of a regional center ever since he accepted the superintendent's job and came to Gravette in 2011.
"Let's do this and others will follow," Page reasoned, and he has been working for months to start this initiative. Ably assisted by Jay Chalk, Gravette High School principal, he has laid the foundation for a regional workforce development center. Page has made most of the contacts with state legislators, while he and Chalk have taken a very active role networking with administrators and teachers from other schools, investigating programs offered elsewhere and recruiting students from throughout the area.
Gravette High School started offering heating, ventilation and air conditioning classes in the 2015-16 school year. This year, in 2016-17, WBCCC was started and includes the HVAC courses (refrigeration is also being added) and welding classes taught in partnership with Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale. NTI provides the instructor and some of the equipment and supplies used in the welding class.
The welding program has been very successful and both morning and afternoon classes are full. Eleven of the welding students recently passed their SMAW 3G certification, five from Decatur, one from Bentonville and five from Gravette. Aaron Wright, certified welding instructor with United Robotics, tested the students, and welding instructor Brian Wheeler is now working with several local companies to help secure employment for them after graduation. Wheeler is taking his students to a high school skills contest in Hot Springs in April and hopes to take students to other welding competitions in the future.
Gravette administrators have recently submitted a legislative draft for creation of a regional workforce center, and plans are to add advanced welding and CNC (computer numerically controlled) machining classes to the curriculum in the 2017-18 school year. Donated CNC equipment worth $120,000 and welding equipment will be arriving soon. The WBCCC would also like to offer evening and post-secondary courses.
The purpose of WBCCC is to provide vocational training for non-college bound students in order to make them more employable and give them the skills they need, according to Becky Rangel, public relations representative for Gravette public schools.
"Suddenly, industries nationwide are realizing they are needing certain technical workers, and employees with these skills are in high demand," Rangel said.
Staff at WBCCC hopes to fill the gaps and train workers to fill those positions now considered in high demand. Our students can go to NTI in Springdale, Rangel points out, but transportation and driving distance is a problem for many. Having Gravette certified as a satellite location and making local classes available is much more efficient, she said.
"It's about the students and how we can give them the best preparation," she added.
Gravette High School is partnering with the Bentonville school district and its Ignite program. Gravette will be focusing on developing technical skills at the WBCCC, while Bentonville concentrates on professional skills through Ignite. Collaboration between superintendents of area schools is making it all possible, Rangel said.
WBCCC accepts junior and senior students from Bentonville, Bentonville West, Gravette, Decatur and Gentry High Schools. Principal Chalk will be visiting area schools and interviewing sophomore and junior applicants this semester. Students interested in enrolling in any of the Ignite or WBCCC classes should contact the counselor at their local high school.
General News on 01/18/2017