St. Mary Parish school system officials pitched their ideas on ways to curb dropouts and strengthen the area’s workforce during Monday’s St. Mary Industrial Group meeting at the Petroleum Club of Morgan City.
School system leaders Superintendent Dr. Don Aguillard, Career and Technical Education Supervisor Pete Boudreaux and Academic Recovery Specialist Kim Notto-Lockley addressed such topics as the school system’s internship program, its mentoring program and other programs to curb dropouts.
Regarding the internship program, Boudreaux said the state now is emphasizing not only preparing students for college but also for futures in careers that may require much less formal educational training after high school.
The school system’s internship program, which is in its infant stages (it started this year), includes about 25 students, collectively, parishwide participating.
Boudreaux said the program has been positive thus far and encouraged business leaders to participate.
“I have not received any negative complaints yet about the program,” Boudreaux said.
Five of the six high schools are participating in the program (Centerville was unable to hire a teacher for a full-time program) this year but will have it in place full-time next year. Students participating in the program work in different areas of companies.
Students are trained before they begin work, and then, ideally, work from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. However, employees can offer other hours, too.
He said students are covered under workman’s compensation programs and receive a work permit from the school board.
In the future, Boudreaux said he would like to involve students early, so they can gain experience, complete any technical college education they may need and begin working as soon as possible after graduation.
Boudreaux also recommended the group implement a speaker’s bureau, like the one already being held throughout the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce, in which business leaders tell seventh- and eighth-graders what skills they need to work in their professions, so students can prepare accordingly in high school
“You might be surprised what these kids can do,” Boudreaux said.
Regarding mentoring, Notto-Lockley encouraged business leaders to allow their employees to mentor students, at least one hour a week from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Before volunteers become mentors, they must be screened through the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s office.
“I have noticed that many of these children in our school district who are struggling in these areas (grades, attendance and discipline) are in great need of an adult-trained advocate,” Notto-Lockley said.
Currently, there are nine trained mentors in the school system.
“We are currently successful because we are making a positive impact on these three risk factors: grades, attendance and discipline,” Notto-Lockley said. “The grades are starting to improve, the attendance of those students has increased and the disciplinary referrals are starting to go down.”
Notto-Lockley said that students who are mentored not necessarily are those who struggle academically. She said some are successful in the classroom but struggle with social skills.
Regarding dropouts, St. Mary Parish Schools Superintendent Dr. Don Aguillard said that adults made “serious” mistakes years ago, when trying to move students from eighth-grade to ninth-grade without passing the required accountability exams.
The mistakes still are haunting the school system, as many students who enter high school are not eligible for a high school diploma.
To correct this problem, the state approved the career diploma track — to complement the traditional diploma route — during this past legislative session.
“The truth is this: the career diploma finally is a path to allow kids to move from eighth-grade to ninth-grade still having the option to earn a high school diploma and attend … junior college,” Aguillard said.
However, career diploma students must attend remedial classes to improve their math and English courses, too.
Additionally, the St. Mary Parish School system formed the extended day program to combat dropouts even earlier than high school. Aguillard said students begin this journey to become a dropout as early as fifth grade.
In this program, students failing either English Language Arts or mathematics attend classes for more than an hour after school to improve their skills.
“We’re helping our students to stay on track to move to the eighth grade,” St. Mary Parish School Superintendent Dr. Don Aguillard said, noting that eighth-grade is when the students take the LEAP test.
Due to these work programs and the extended day program, Aguillard predicted business leaders would see “radical” increases in graduation in two to four years.
“You really are a part of this process of getting kids to have productive lives,” Aguillard said.
However, he said the school system needs area businesses’ help.
“We can’t tell them what jobs are available unless you tell us the jobs that are available,” Aguillard said.
While SMIG has a Career Advisory Committee to assist the school system, Career Advisory Committee Chairman Jim Firmin said he would like to involve members, in addition to board members, in this program.
In other news, SMIG President R.E. “Bob” Miller said SMIG still is looking for participants for its March 18 golf tournament as well as those to cook or donate food for the event.