SPURGER – “Training them up and getting these good young folks in the right direction is very important,” said Rep. Brian Babin (R-Woodville) on Tuesday afternoon.
Babin, who participated via Zoom, from his office in Washington, D.C., spoke at a meeting of the Spurger ISD P-Tech Advisory Board, which was facilitated by SISD superintendent Jeff Burnthorn.
P-Tech, is a designation, which stands for Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools, and for which SISD is one of 62 districts across the state with that designation, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
Babin, who applauded Burnthorn and Spurger ISD in his remarks, said he realized, through his own family, how important educators are to the future of the workforce and economy, as many of his family members are, or were, educators.
“We hear from industry leaders all of the time about the need for a robust, well-trained workforce,” he said.
The audience at the meeting, which was comprised of educators and community leaders from a variety of fields, heard from Burnthorn, as well as faculty members teaching in P-Tech programs at Spurger.
“We are trying to do everything we can to provide opportunities and training for young people,” Burnthorn said.
Currently SISD is offering P-Tech courses in welding and graphic design, both of which offer students concurrent high school and collegiate credit. Both instructors for those programs, Cory Maxwell (welding) and Jennifer Wyse (graphic design) spoke about the curricula and projects their students have done.
Maxwell said welding students are able to go through the same sort of training as they would in trade school, and aside from competitions they compete in, they also have built deer stands, fire pits and other pieces of equipment and/or functional art that people can purchase.
“We’ve got a plasma table that stays busy,” Maxwell said.
Wyse’s students have been able to get certified in using Adobe products, in addition to collegiate certification through the Lamar Institute of Technology. She and a few of her students demonstrated greeting cards they had created.
Burnthorn also outlined future plans for programs under the P-Tech banner and spoke about the district’s current “PACE” program, which stands for Pirate Academy to Certify Educators. Currently, there are six participants within that program, which offers certification through Indiana Wesleyan University.
This is the first year for PACE, Burnthorn said, and he added that the program participants are “turning out to be fantastic in the classroom.”
Other career pathways that Burnthorn spoke about as possible for the future of the program include a nursing (CNA) pathway as well as possible animal science and carpentry/construction science training.
P-Tech schools, according to TEA, are institutions that allow students who are not likely to attend college an opportunity to receive both their high school diploma and an associate’s degree, or at least some college.
Burnthorn said the program is especially helpful to Tyler County because there is not a college within the county.
