As employers across the state of Tennessee continue to project a shortage of qualified workers, the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry has identified the need for a new system that will make career awareness and preparation more seamless for students, parents, employers and educators.
The Chamber has partnered with Chattanooga-based Thinking Media to offer a career-based curriculum, the Tennessee Career Awareness & Preparation System or TN-CAPS, for educators that illustrates localized, career-focused pathways for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Teachers will be able to download classroom-ready, age-appropriate lesson plans that illustrate the tasks common to careers that local businesses desire, and then link to actual local businesses near the specific school.
“At the Chamber we continue to hear of the lack of qualified and prepared candidates for jobs in our state from our most prominent employers," said
Bradley Jackson, CEO, TN Chamber
. "We believe the TN-CAPS system will address this by providing great ways for teachers to easily link what they are doing in the classroom with regionally available careers and allow students to gain exposure to the local companies filling that future workforce pipeline."
TN-CAPS will be offered to selected schools in six pilot communities in January 2020, led by regional chambers:
- Chattanooga 2.0 / Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce
- Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce
- Collierville Partners in Education
- Jackson Chamber of Commerce
- Kingsport Chamber of Commerce
- Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce
Once launched, TN-CAPS will be available to any school, although the localized information will initially be for the current pilots. It is planned to offer complete local data statewide next fall.
