Stark State College and East Community Learning Center named sister colleges
Stark State College has teamed up with East Community Learning Center as part of a larger push in the Akron public school district to team high schools and colleges up to inform and prepare students about various career paths.
Senior Welding student at East Community Learning Center in Akron Dominic Wyne had the chance to take a look at Stark State College’s new welding facility. In an article by the Akron Beacon Journal Wyne said Stark State had “all the fun toys.”
After visiting the facility at Stark State, Wyne found a great interest in welding, and the prospect of being able to make things he already can see out in the world, and as such applied to be part of the school’s welding program. He has since been accepted.
Akron Public Schools hopes to fortify that type of pipeline through its College and Career Academies, which offer every high school student the opportunity to explore different career paths. Akron has partnered with many area businesses, and is now working to create a partnership between every high school and a college or university.
Recently the school district and Stark State College announced that the school will be the new sister college for East Community Learning Center. Stark State is already the sister school for Garfield CLC. These partnerships are set up to improve academics and encourage students to seriously consider the option of post high school education. Stark State also offers programs in technical education that align with many of the more hands-on career pathways that are already provided at East CLC.
Already there has been a partnership between Stark State and East CLC to allow high school students to earn college credit through various classes, and this new partnership increases the benefits of the relationship greatly. Stark State will offer 2,500 hours of support to students of East CLC over the next three years. The support also includes more class offerings for students at East CLC, which can be used by the high school students to get help with financial aid forms, and allow them access to more class offerings and access to the college’s campuses in Akron and Canton. It will also help teachers at the high school to improve their curriculum to better ready students for college or a career.
Also quoted in the Akron Beacon article was Superintendent Christine Fowler Mack, herself a graduate of East CLC, who spoke at a recent event on Stark State’s campus in Akron, who said, "Thank you for demonstrating yet again your commitment to the students of Akron Public Schools."
She talked about how the vision for the partnership is to help students become "engaged learners with goals for their future," while also being competitive in their search for scholarships or jobs.
She talked about the optimism these types of partnerships instill, saying, "As an Akron native, it's heartwarming to see the ways that so many community organizations and the business community continue to partner with our schools.”
Lada Gibson-Shreve, who currently serves as the provost and chief academic officer for Stark State College, talked about the school’s inspiration to further partner with Akron Public Schools, saying, "We want to be a part of helping every student that is here with your future, regardless of what that might be.”
The sister schools partnerships, as well as partnership with local areas and businesses and nonprofits, is facilitated with the aid of United Way of Summit and Medina Counties.
Currently, every high school in the district has at least two academies that help create access to education for several career pathways. The school district has created a partnership for each academy, which helps foster a high level of collaboration and education.
The creation of these partnerships has been going on for quite some time, and after the formalization of the partnership between Stark State and East CLC, only one high school in the district will not have an academy attached to it. Work is being done to connect that school with a college partner.
Other college partners in this endeavor are the University of Mount Union, Kent State University, and the University of Akron.
More information about Stark State College can be found at the school's website.