Bridging the Relevance Gap for Students and Stark County

October 28, 2022

Bridging the Relevance Gap for Students and Stark County – the Why and How

Giving Students the "Why" Behind Their Education

Employers across Stark County, Ohio, and the U.S. are struggling to find workers with the right skills for their needs, even when utilizing considerable resources to find the right talent. At the same time, many students often are not offered meaningful career direction in their education, leading to disengagement from their studies, dropping out of high school or college, and bouncing from one career field to another repeatedly. Locally, this lack of purpose can lead to young adults leaving Stark County to seek opportunities elsewhere. Addressing this gap is critical for both our students and our community.

Although these workforce challenges are significant, they may be addressed collectively in Stark County as community stakeholders work side-by-side to help students find the "why" behind their education.

If students better understand “why” their education matters on a personal level, then they are much more likely to tackle the “how” – how to overcome challenges, how to leverage their education, how to succeed, etc. Our focused work at Stark Education Partnership includes 1) helping students to understand their aptitudes (abilities that can be capitalized on); and 2) aiding students in understanding what is interesting and fulfilling for them. Using this information, we match students with local career opportunities offered by area business partners. The foundation for this approach is in utilizing YouScience, a personalized aptitude-based career guidance program.

The "How" – Career Programming

SEP is currently partnering with several schools and local business partners to implement the YouScience platform, and combine it with career programming for every student, with targeted programming in middle and high schools. Career programming includes the following elements:

Career Awareness – such as videos and career days

Career Exploration – using YouScience assessments and speakers from various career sectors

Career Planning (including college) – based on YouScience assessment results and local opportunities

Career Training – including soft skills and technical skills

Work-Based Career Experiences – such as field trips and job shadowing

Career Opportunities – such as internships and employment

Our aspiration is that by 2025 every middle school and high school in Stark County implements intentional, sequential, career-focused programming. By doing this, we will better engage students, we’ll help students fulfill their potential and passions, we’ll be responsive to the needs of employers – and hopefully, we'll influence local graduates to remain in Stark County, be that post-secondary education or directly into the workforce.

The Three C's – SEP’s role in this work is threefold:

Catalyst – to challenge the status quo by igniting interest in meaningful new ideas and approaches

Connector – to connect schools to workforce partners and community organizations

Cornerstone – to act as a trusted partner and facilitator, helping take an idea to implementation for positive impact

In short, our vision is to build generations of successful individuals who fulfill their potential and grow roots in Stark County!

Stark Education Partnership is a catalyst, engaging and collaborating with education, business, civic and community stakeholders to drive sustainable improvement and innovation to provide all students with education and career success. View as Webpage