A trend of increasing interest in career and technical classes offered by the Kishwaukee Education Consortium (KEC) continues according to Executive Director Tom Crouch resulting in a record enrollment of 545 students this academic year. Crouch was this week’s guest speaker at Sycamore Rotary. KEC is an education consortium made up of DeKalb, Sycamore, Genoa-Kingston, Hiawatha, and Rochelle High Schools. He said KEC’s mission to prepare high school students to enter the workforce plus the chance for them to earn dual high school and college credits makes their programs an attractive choice for youth to advance their education and to be job ready. He noted that KEC also provides alternative education classes for 175 students who need extra help beyond regular classroom instruction.
A majority of KEC classes originate at the Kishwaukee College campus near Malta. However, Crouch pointed out that they have various off-campus sites for specialized training. Examples are their aviation training at the DeKalb airport, welding at the Sycamore Industrial Park, and medical/health training. Crouch said their most popular classes are for Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), construction trades, and police training.
KEC is among 27 career centers in the state. Crouch said one of their biggest challenges is flat funding levels from the state, even though demand keeps growing. Staffing is also a challenge with Crouch saying instructors with the special work experience or credentials to meet certification requirements are hard to find. He noted the average mobility rate in the state for specialized instructors is 16% but fortunately for KEC they only lost one of their 53 staff members this past year to turnover. He said another training component being watched is the trend for Artificial Intelligence (AI) instruction. Crouch said their welding program is already experimenting in this area. Ultimately, Crouch said KEC hopes to be developing responsible citizens who are life-long learners.