Business tour aims to help teachers prepare students for workforce
By Chris Fortune
St. Joseph teachers took time out of summer vacation to learn about the skills local employers are looking for to help prepare their students.
The St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce concluded its annual Teacher Externship Program on Thursday. The partnership between St. Joseph School District and local businesses took place over four days, with 25 teachers and counselors visiting five businesses in the city.
“It gives the teachers an opportunity to take what they have learned back to the classroom and influence the students,” said Kristie Arthur, director of workforce development at the Chamber of Commerce.
Teachers visited Boehringer Ingelheim, Midland Steel, Hillyard and Mosaic Life Care before ending the tour at Altec.
Arthur asked teachers about their thoughts after their visit. One teacher was delighted to see women working in traditionally male-dominated fields, she said.
“This gives (teachers) some industry experience that they can relate to, and they can find out what great jobs are here in our community and what’s available to their students,” Arthur said.
Chris Hurst, operations trainer at Boehringer Ingelheim, said it is valuable for teachers to learn about opportunities in St. Joseph that can be seized if students are motivated and willing to learn.
“There are a lot of roles to where you can come in, like myself, where you’ve got a high school diploma, some college education, maybe you don’t have your degree,” he said. “But you can learn those skills all on the job, you can learn all the things they need you to do to be a better employee.”
Mike Moore represented both sides of the tour since he serves as vice president of the St. Joseph School Board and works as a principal engineering manager at Altec.
“Now (teachers) know clearly that these jobs that we talk about around St. Joseph, many of them in manufacturing and health care, and they know they’re good jobs,” he said.
Moore embraces the growing collaboration between the school district and local businesses because they depend on the teachers who prepare students for the workforce.
“We just depend on each other so much and the fact that we’re openly supporting each other now is just a great thing to see,” he said.
