Pulaski County is moving ahead with efforts to give residents the skills they need for the jobs of the future. Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer gave an update on vocational training and other education programs to the county commissioners last week.
He said the industrial repair and maintenance technology program at West Central High School is off to a good start. “First semester had 33 students,” he said. “We were hoping nine to 12 when we got that grant from the state. This semester we have 32 [because] one of them failed, and out of the 32 who passed, 31 of the 32 passed at the Ivy Tech level and received Ivy Tech credits. We’re talking freshmen and sophomores mostly, who are already getting some technical credits from Ivy Tech.”
Origer said the next step is to start planning classes for next semester. Not only does that include higher-level classes for current students, but also expanding the program to students at Winamac High School.
Additionally, he said the county’s industrial forum is working with Ivy Tech to develop an industrial leadership certificate. “Braun and [Plymouth Tube] and Galbreath and Galfab and Fratco – they’ll send a couple of their employees to each of these classes on supervision, communication skills, that sort of thing, trying to build their internal leadership pipeline,” he explained. “There are four classes right now. We may add a fifth, if we come up with one. But they’ll have the opportunity, if a student, an employee successfully gets through all of them, to get a certificate, and then it’ll be up to individual employers whether getting that certificate means you get a raise or a bonus or what.” Then, if the program’s successful, Origer plans to work with WorkOne to open it to the general public.
Meanwhile, he says a new Leadership Pulaski County program is in the works for this fall. “That’s just basically civic leadership, getting more people involved,” Origer explained. “Part of it is teaching them about the history of their community and exposing them to somebody from Star City who maybe never gets to Medaryville or vice-versa, getting a better understanding of county government, better understanding of state government, that sort of thing. So we’re hoping that that will begin in September, and it’s 10 or 11 courses.”
Origer says the program will follow curriculum provided by Purdue Extension.
