2023-24 Plan Overview

About

Our comprehensive plan is detailed in our 2023-24 BAC Plan, which was submitted to the Ohio Department of Education on September 30th, 2023. Below you will find a high level summary of the planned activities for 2023-24.

Highlights

Listed below are the highlights of our 2023-24 BAC Plan based on the three quality practices.  For a comprehensive look at each item, please view our full 2023-24 BAC Plan. 

DEVELOP PROFESSIONAL SKILLS FOR FUTURE CAREERS

INITIATIVE 1: BAC Task Force Creation

Need: The Lorain County BAC has substantially expanded its service offerings, necessitating the formation of a smaller task force dedicated to in-depth discussions addressing member needs and services. BAC members require a dedicated forum, distinct from our large-format meetings, to strategize, promote, and execute new initiatives effectively.

Objective: Create a smaller working group (task force) to carry out specific tasks to accomplish the objectives in our plan.  

Summary: Our task force will ensure comprehensive representation by including members from each of our affiliated schools, as well as businesses, community-based organizations, and higher education institutions, to drive the successful execution of our initiatives.

Initiative 2: School Counselors Boot Camp

Need: Data analysis has revealed that "School Counselors" emerge as a stakeholder group with limited engagement and comprehension of the Business Advisory Council's objectives. It is our conviction that school counselors play a pivotal role in the successful implementation of our BAC plan initiatives.

Objective: Enhance school counselor engagement with the Business Advisory Council by organizing specialized events aimed at increasing their understanding of BAC goals and actively involving them in BAC initiatives and activities.

Summary: Our strategy focuses on increasing participation among Lorain County school counselors by introducing a dedicated "School Counselors Bootcamp." We will also maintain an ongoing dialogue by delivering consistent updates during county-wide counselor gatherings, whether in-person or via Zoom. The School Counselors Bootcamp will draw inspiration from last year's successful educator bootcamps, with customized content that aligns with the unique requirements and responsibilities of school counselors.  We will also recruit school counselors to be one of many stakeholders represented on our BAC Taskforce.

Initiative 3: Educator Externships

Need: We've provided valuable events for teachers through our educator externship, but it has reached only a small percentage of them. To better prepare teachers to help their students prepare for college and career readiness, we need to offer more opportunities for their professional development. 

Objective: Replicate our successful educator externship to offer teachers diverse experiences, empowering them to better prepare students for college and career readiness in an ever-changing automated workforce.

Summary: We will recreate the past educator externship opportunities, including a two-day, and/or five-day educator externships. Our aspiration is to replicate the highly successful five-day educator externship we conducted in June 2023, which was made possible through funding from the governor's office.  We have received overwhelming positive feedback from the experience!Initiative 2: School Counselors Boot Camp

BUILD PARTNERSHIPS

Initiative 1: BAC Meetings and Skills Presentations

Need: BAC members need access to current and dynamic job market data to facilitate informed discussions and collaborative efforts, ensuring that students are equipped with the essential skills required for both college and career success.

Objective: Provide BAC members with access to current job market data to foster informed discussions and collaborative efforts, enabling the effective preparation of students with essential skills for both college and career success.

Summary: In our first meeting, TeamNEO, our regional data experts, will share the most recent job stats. We'll continue discussions at each quarterly meeting, where we'll also hear updates from the Director of Workforce Development and taskforce members about past and upcoming BAC initiatives. Additionally, we'll feature successful activities from schools, businesses, and higher education in our monthly spotlight.

Initiative 2: Increase Business Partners / Onboard Qty 30

Need: While we have built strong partnerships within the education sector since our inception in 2018, there is room for growth in our business partnerships. We have an excellent foundation to build upon as we aim to increase enrollment and expand our network of business collaborators

Objective: Boost business enrollment by having each school recruit an additional two members to join the Lorain BAC, resulting in a targeted addition of 30 new businesses to our network.

Summary: At our last BAC meeting in the spring, we tasked each school district with identifying existing businesses involved in our county-wide BAC and inviting two more to join. During these efforts, we provided guidance on inviting businesses, outlined the benefits of participation, and shared an overview of our BAC's objectives in a resource we have developed for use as we recruit new members. We will continue to recruit new members throughout the 2023-24 school year.  

Initiative 3: Lorain County Career Sim

Need: We need more opportunities for students to have authentic experiences as they explore careers in high school.  

Objective: Utilize relationships at the county departments (inside Lorain County offices) to create a county wide program to allow students to be placed in authentic experiences (fire, police, water, parks, etc) beyond large group tours. Once implemented, utilize the format to expand to other businesses and community based organizations.

Summary: We will explore a partnership with our county commissioners to bring together the different county departments to explore setting up collaborative opportunities.  The activities could include having departments participate at local school career fairs, hosting new county wide events or partnering with LCCC, or creating job shadowing opportunities for students who are interested in careers that a county department / office offers.  

COORDINATE EXPERIENCES

Initiative 1: Monthly Student/Educator/Business Newsletter

Need: We have identified the need to establish a regular communication channel, such as a monthly newsletter, to effectively reach our target audience of approximately 38,000 students through 3,000+ educators. This communication will help raise awareness of the Lorain County BAC's valuable opportunities among schools and promote the utilization of monthly themes to provide students with essential career exposure. Additionally, there is a need to ensure that educators and businesses are consistently informed about upcoming opportunities offered by the BAC.

Objective: Launch a monthly newsletter to reach approximately 38,000 students via 3,000+ educators, highlighting the valuable opportunities provided by the Lorain County BAC. Enhance school awareness of BAC resources, advocating the use of monthly themes to foster career exposure. Ensure educators and businesses stay well-informed about upcoming opportunities. 

Summary: We will impact 38,000 students as we communicate with over 3,000+ educators through the launch of a monthly newsletter. This dedicated communication platform will spotlight the wealth of valuable opportunities offered by the Lorain County BAC. In our newsletter, we will feature three essential facts, three exciting opportunities, and three valuable resources.

The use of monthly themes will broaden students' exposure to a wide range of career opportunities. We will include local, regional, and national resources in the newsletter. We will ensure that educators and businesses are consistently informed about upcoming opportunities.

Initiative 2: Semiconductor Trainings

Need: We recognize the urgent need to prepare Ohio students for the high-paying job opportunities arising from Intel's facility construction and the growing demand for skilled workers in semiconductor companies across the state.

Objective: Offer educators training programs to deepen their understanding of microchips and the semiconductor industry, specifically focusing on job prospects for students. We will leverage existing resources available through our partners at LCCC and Ashland University to provide educators with firsthand experience in a cleanroom environment. Additionally, we will actively seek opportunities to expand workshop offerings.

Summary: In collaboration with Intel, LCCC, and Ashland University, the Lorain County BAC is excited to offer educators a hands-on opportunity to explore careers in the semiconductor field. We have extended a special invitation to school counselors to join this event. Participants will suit up in blue scrubs and gain firsthand experience in the sterile, dust-free environments of the semiconductor industry.

Our aim is to raise awareness within our schools so that, when students exhibit the aptitude and interest, they can be directed towards lucrative and in-demand careers in the semiconductor field.

As we investigate a second semiconductor training session, we're exploring the possibility of including students alongside educators. This additional program will involve visits to local businesses that play a crucial role in supporting the semiconductor industry. 

Initiative 3: Real World Educator Experiences

Need: Students need to see the relevance in the concepts they are learning.  Educators need to be able to connect curricular concepts to real world experiences.  

Objective: Help teachers make content areas (math/science) relevant to students by providing real life examples from local businesses. 

Summary: Students often ask “When will I ever use this?” as teachers provide instruction. Teachers often have limited experience in business and industry and do not have the knowledge to provide examples of where a math or science concept can be used in the real world.  Our “Real World” pilot, introduced last year, took a small pilot group of educators to visit one of our BAC members, AJ Rose, a stamping manufacturer in Avon Ohio.  The group of high school math teachers and school counselors toured the facility and learned about the stamping process.  Following the tour, educators were provided with three examples of how math they teach to high school students is used at AJ Rose in manufacturing as metal parts are stamped.  You can see the three examples on the agenda. This year, we seek to replicate last year’s event, and expand our “Real World” series by creating a “Science in the Real World” event.  We are currently working with several of our BAC businesses, in partnership with our science content experts at the ESC of Lorain County to determine what concepts would be most beneficial and what BAC businesses could provide the most relevant examples for educators.  We anticipate expanding this series to include students as we move forward!

Initiative 4: Real World Student Experiences

Need: Students need to see the relevance in the concepts they are learning.  Students need authentic work based experiences to determine what career fields are of interest to them. 

Objective: Empower students with meaningful workplace experiences to make informed decisions as they transition into college and careers, emphasizing the practical application of math and science concepts in real-world settings to reinforce the relevance of their learning.

Summary: Building upon the success of our series initiated last year, which introduced students to healthcare careers, we are now expanding it to encompass the field of manufacturing. During the 2022-23 academic year, we forged a partnership with the Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital, enabling us to bring 10 students each month (70 in total) from our 14 high schools on immersive tours. These tours provided hands-on experiences, allowing targeted students with a keen interest in healthcare careers to access employee-only areas, including surgical suites, during a comprehensive four-hour event. This venture effectively helped students gauge their interest in healthcare careers.

This year, our aim is to replicate the success of this event, this time in collaboration with manufacturing partners. We will identify students who display interests and aptitudes in manufacturing and provide an engaging event that enables them to explore the diverse and promising careers within the manufacturing industry. We will work with the Lorain County Manufacturing Sector Partnership (LCMSP) to find manufacturing partners to facilitate the experiences.  

Initiative 5: Parent Nights "The Rising Cost of College & How it Can Jeopardize the American Dream"

Need: Many college graduates are burdened with high college debt, which can threaten their pursuit of 'The American Dream.' Moreover, there's often little awareness among students and parents that businesses can cover education expenses. Additionally, students and parents may not know which industries are growing or shrinking, making it hard to choose careers that match their interests and skills.

Objective: Organize a region-wide informational event for parents and students, focusing on the evolving job market, high-demand occupations, the soaring expenses associated with four-year degrees, cost-effective credential options and pathways, and the willingness of numerous businesses to sponsor student/employee college and credentialing expenses.

Summary:  We will host three evening events across our 15 school districts, making them accessible to both parents and students in the region. In collaboration with LCCC, Team NEO, and our business and sector partners.  The Lorain County BAC will create a platform at these events to enlighten parents on crucial matters, including:

• The realities of escalating college costs and how student debt can impact a student’s future.

• Viable alternative pathways that can make college more affordable, including community colleges and their programming (LCCC).

• Insights into in-demand and declining career fields, as well as the sectors with the highest demand in our region.

• Valuable information about local businesses' willingness to sponsor credentials and college education.

Initiative 6: BAC Pilots

Need: Member schools of the Lorain County BAC are seeking assistance as they connect with BAC Businesses as they connect students to businesses.  

Objective: Initiate pilot programs in response to specific requests from schools and businesses, and record their success to help replicate them in more schools later.  

Summary: The Lorain County BAC, in collaboration with its member schools, is eager to support specific initiatives this year. Two schools have approached the BAC with requests for assistance in planning and identifying relevant BAC partners. The two project initiatives are as follows:

Supercharge Your Teachers Projects: Avon Lake Troy Intermediate School is actively working to enhance the effectiveness of teachers' projects for grades 5 and 6. This initiative involves transforming existing projects into project-based learning models to enhance their relevance. Additionally, it aims to establish connections between projects and the school's makerspace, as well as foster collaboration with local businesses to enable students to work with and showcase their final projects to authentic audiences.

Interview Challenge: Lorain City Schools is partnering with the Lorain County BAC, in collaboration with the Lorain County Manufacturing Sector Partnership, to offer an interview challenge for high school students. During this challenge, students will form small teams and evaluate interviews conducted by three interviewees, one of whom will be selected. The interviewers and interviewees will be Lorain City graduates from local businesses. Students will be provided with interview rating criteria and will gain insights into the interview process from the perspective of the interviewer. Prizes will be awarded to the winning team, and we anticipate broadcasting the event to Lorain High School classrooms via Zoom to increase student engagement.

Initiative 6: Trades Engage Simulations @ Career Fairs

Need: Students need hands on experiences to understand the value of entering a in demand trade. 

Objective: Using the Akron Canton Builds model, invite trades (plumbing, electrical, hvac, etc) to participate at our local schools career fairs.  Help trades make a hands on simulation so students can experience the trade.  

Summary: Explore and pilot at one or more local school career fairs hands on engagement interactions from local trades.  Our BAC would work with trades to help them create hands on simulations of their career field, which students would perform as a means to expose them to specific trades.  Local trades would discuss the pros of their trade, as well as salary and demand in the region.