Sweet Home High School and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Greater Santiam have joined a partnership between industry and education intended to create a pipeline between high school and local living wage jobs.
Sweet Home is one of four Linn County school districts – the others are Lebanon, Scio and Central Linn, which are joining Greater Albany, Corvallis and Philomath as participating districts.
The expansion also includes the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Greater Santiam, which serves youths in Sweet Home and Lebanon.
They are part of a new project, called Pipeline to Jobs, being financially supported by businesses, schools and a $440,000 grant from the Ford Family Foundation.
The purpose of the joint effort is to provide a clearer pathway to family-wage jobs in the region so that young people can remain in and contribute to the economic and social vitality of their communities.
The Pipeline program, which is sponsored by local industry and education in Linn and Benton counties and coordinated through the Albany Chamber of Commerce, began in 2014 as a way to create better connections with young people and high-wage jobs available in the two counties.
Pipeline to Jobs focuses on getting youth in the fast lane to success by pursuing jobs that don’t require a four year degree. The program features jobs that require anywhere from a high school diploma to a two-year program at a local community college. It also highlights opportunities for employer-sponsored training or learning opportunities that encourage advancement and growth within a career field.
Pipeline to Jobs partners with local employers and educators to bring opportunities to students in the program to get the training they need or get connected to available jobs.
“It’s going to be a great help in driving the conversation and the actual application of us, partners, community resources and businesses helping our kids gain the skills they need for our local workforce,” said Sweet Home Schools Supt. Tom Yahraes.
It serves as a framework to apply to some of the efforts already under way in Sweet Home, Yahraes said. The high school Forestry Club already enjoys a close relationship with partners in the industry.
The program is oriented around healthcare and manufacturing, Yahraes said, and those are areas where Sweet Home needs to more aggressively target in its curriculum and partnerships, helping students develop the skills, licensing and certification for use in the local workforce.
The district already provides more traditional pathways to college, he said. This will help develop other pathways to jobs.
Samaritan Health Services last week announced that it is partnering with the Pipeline to Jobs program, which started with the manufacturing industry. That partnership brings a new element to the program by incorporating the health care industry. As a health care employer in the community, Samaritan can vouch for the skilled jobs available in health care – housekeeping, clerical, pharmacy technician, clerical, medical assisting and more.
More information about the Pipeline program is available at pipelinetojobs.org and at samhealth.org/education.
In addition to grant funds, businesses and schools contribute resources. Three other initiatives are part of the new project, including the following:
n Creation of a “Common Technical Manufacturing Core” program at Linn-Benton Community College, a 10-week program that prepares students for successful employment in Pipeline-participating companies.
n Development of learning communities for school district faculty that will help teachers and students reinforce employment skills and expectations learned through the Pipeline experience in various grade levels at all districts.
n Support for the Boys and Girls Club Training Teens for Tomorrow program, an after-school learning program to enhance employment skills and career development.
Goals include raising high school completion rates in all participating districts to the state average, increased enrollment from the schools in health care and manufacturing fields and completion and placement rates for students from the program that are equal to or higher than the average for all LBCC students.