Chamber of Commerce Luncheon Focuses on Education

Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce at their luncheon on August 10 at the Ramada Plaza presented a program titled Sheridan County’s Education System and How it Affects You. The focus was on how businesses and schools could work together to create an environment for students to learn about what is available after high school. It also gives businessmen an idea of how the schools teach students to be employable out of high school.

Cody Sinclair, Chamber Board of Directors, introduced the educators, Dr. Walt Tribley, President of Sheridan College; and the three superintendents of the Sheridan County schools. Chase Christensen, SCSD#3; Pete Kilbride, SCSD#1; and Scott Stults, SCSD#2.

Sheridan College

Dr. Tribley presented a slide show on Sheridan College and its role in post-secondary education in Sheridan and Johnson Counties.

He said that education is the number one predictor of economic and social mobility. And that the average income with an Associate’s Degree is 36% higher than with a high school diploma. He added this was just the national average, as some of the trades do pay very well.

He said students at Sheridan College can either transfer credit to another college or go into the work force. Sheridan College offers academic course as well as certificate courses. He presented a slide showing that Sheridan College serves approximately 2,400 students a year, and awards 400 degrees and certificates per year.

He added also that on the average, a student who attends a community college will stay within 300 miles of the college and 61% live within 50 miles of the college. Which is good for area businesses that need to hire.

SCSD#3

Christensen said that Arvada-Clearmont school is preparing for the students to return to school, and that he is working with the staff on goal setting.

He said that the school hired an Ag teacher that grew up in District #1 and a kindergarten teacher who grew up in Johnson county. People that were raised in our communities want to stay in the area. That is a positive sign for business and economic development.

He said he has worked with assessment data from schools throughout the world. He said when he looked at the data from Clearmont and from Sheridan County, that they have some of the best data that he has seen, both in Wyoming and internationally.

SCSD#1

Kilbride said District #1 has had over around for 1000 students for the last three years “And that is not slowing down,” he said. He added that people are moving into the area. Some of it is because of the workforce environment climate, he gave credit to the chamber for that, and the other reason is the schools.

He said his district is focusing on literacy, and he said that there were 32 new hires. He talked about what they are doing to help students transition to the work world

He noted that they will be contacting chamber members about letting students job shadow with their businesses. and continue building connections with employees. It is important to make those connections early.

SCSD#2

Stults talked about District #2 and the teachers.

His district looks at what they do well and reflect on it to make it better. He said that SCSD#2 focuses on academics, but one thing they have to do a better job of is preparing kids for the world that lays ahead of them, and this has to start in kindergarten. He said they have to talk to kids early about their future.

Stults said that not every kid will go into college. When they leave Sheridan High School the student should to be ready for the world of work or post-secondary education. Sheridan high school offers concurrent enrollment, some kids are close to having a AA degree when they graduate

Pete Kilbride said about the schools in Sheridan County,

Both Stults and Kilbride said that one Wyoming school district is still needing to fill 25 positions in their school, and both were thankful for the fact that although the applicant pool was smaller than in previous years, they were still able to fill all the positions in their districts.

Alex Lee of Lee Heating, Cooling & Refrigeration spoke from the businessman’s point of view about the challenge of finding help. He said it used to be in many trades one didn’t need a college education, but today some trades prefer new hires to have trade school education as things are getting more complicated, especially in the heating and cooling businesses.

The presenters spoke to a full house and gave attendees an idea of what the schools are focusing on this year, and how the students can contribute to businesses in Sheridan and the county.