"Postsecondary Workforce Readiness Specialist, Fountain-Fort Carson School District"

More than 10,684 students drop out of high school. What is going on? How can we change that statistic? Our goal in K-12 education is to engage students and teach them how to be lifelong learners in order to use their own aptitudes and abilities to succeed in our community. One easy way to engage students is to teach them the “why” of school. This can be facilitated by inspiring students to what their future may hold. 94% of students who participate in an internship program graduate from high school. Students who participate in work-based learning experiences have higher lifetime earnings. This is because they see the why and enter the world of work with a growth mindset. This presentation will talk about our initiative through the PPBEA to engage each of the school districts in the Pikes Peak region to work together in order to develop work-based learning opportunities. This is an opportunity for our community to reach out to our children and teach them what they can become and for business and industry to identify and build their talent pipeline early.