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College, Schools Come Together to Address Local Student Education: Vocational Training, Community Involvement, Parental Participation Among Topics Discussed.

Posted on: Monday, 27 February 2006, 12:01 CST

By Adrienne Ziegler, Desert Dispatch, Barstow, Calif.

Feb. 25--BARSTOW -- Representatives from Barstow Community College and Barstow Unified School District gathered together for the first time Friday afternoon to discuss their plans for the future and collaboration between the two districts. They also discussed how to approach problems that affect both the school district and the college, such as student retention, family support, and holes in the student's education.

"We are breaking new ground," said BCC president Clifford Brock.

Several issues came up repeatedly throughout the meeting, including increasing vocational education in both the college and the high school, getting the community in on the education of its young people, and working to get parents interested and involved in their children's education.

Vocational Education

"We know that not all of our students in high school fit into the programs that we have for them," said Barstow Unified School District Superintendent Jerry Bergmans. "Our intention is to make sure that our educational institutions meet the needs of our students."

Both Bergmans and Brock have discussed the possibility of creating a joint facility for vocational education that would allow both high school and college students the opportunity to use the space to train for a trade.

Claire Ellis, principal at Barstow High School, discussed the high school's new academy program, which allows students to learn about their specific career field through a "house system" where their education revolves around a general area such as math and science or language arts. One of the newest houses will be a pre-engineering program slated to start this fall, called Project Lead the Way.

Bergmans pointed out that vocational programs are not just for students that are not excelling in the classroom, but for any student looking for an alternative to classic academics.

"A number of our students may not do well in high school or junior high school and sometimes it's because it doesn't fit what they're looking for," he said. "They're bright kids, but it appears that they're not. (Vocational programs) are not for the kid that doesn't do well."

"The skilled trades are an excellent, excellent, excellent pathway and fine source of income for many of our young people," Brock said.

Community Involvement

Board members from both districts agreed that perhaps the community would be able to get involved with teaching young people vocational trades, especially with the impending growth of businesses in Barstow such as the Wal-Mart Distribution Center and Home Depot.

"I would think that these big corporations have got to have the money to train their workers," said college Trustee Phil Harris. "I think we're missing out on a ton of opportunities for partnership with the community."

Other board members said that outside programming might help develop the skills of the students. BCC Trustee Tim Heiden challenged the joint-committee to get kids involved in programs through churches, and volunteer organizations.

"I think we need to look outside the box," Heiden said. "I also think we need to hold our community responsible."

He noted that some of these programs have not been used by the students such as a reading and writing program through the Police Activities League.

"I believe we're not going to make any headway without challenging the mindset of our community," said BCC Trustee Fred Baca.

Getting Parents in the Schools

Many board members said a major concern of the entire educational system in Barstow is getting parents interested in what their children are doing in the schools. Jim Davis, principal at Central High School, said some of the students in his school have basic issues of uninvolved parents.

"I need programs that teach the parents how to parent," Davis said. "I've got a lot of kids that come to me that don't have parents."

Davis also said that many of the students thrive academically after receiving attention from teachers and staff at the school. He said teaching the parents about accountability, responsibility and in general, how to be parents, is one of the most important things they could do for the students.

Many of the school board members said that starting with the students' families would help prepare the kids for their education.

"Too many students go to school that have no adults and no mentors to collaborate with," said BCC trustee Ted Baca. "That element is just becoming too big. We must attend to it."

Board members suggested that perhaps starting a mentoring program for students might help support the students where the parents leave off.

As the board members closed the meeting, they gave both Brock and Bergmans their priorities for the next couple months. Most members of the committee said their biggest concerns were not specifically education, but finding support from the families of the students and getting the community involved.

Both members of the school board and the college board of trustees decided the meeting was beneficial for the community, and that they would reconvene to discuss progress.

Contact the writer:

(760) 256-4122 or adrienne_ziegler@link.freedom.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Desert Dispatch, Barstow, Calif.

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Source: The Desert Dispatch (Barstow, Calif.)

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