Accelerating into the future

“Cabot Cooperation is a hometown hero, whose monetary contributions will impact and change so many lives forever,” stated Lacye Hamilton, the Director of Workforce Innovation and Continuing Education at Louisiana State University Eunice.
Hamilton recently launched a pilot program with the Evangeline Parish School Board and the high school program housed at Ville Platte High school, Jobs for American Graduates – Louisiana (JAG-LA). This pilot program will offer the JAG-LA students enrollment in a career-training course online that will result in each participant obtaining an industry-based credential certification at no cost to the student.
In today’s knowledge-based economy, education and training is more critical than ever before. A high school diploma is no longer sufficient to assure access to the middle class. As the importance of postsecondary education and credentials grows, we must find ways to ensure that more individuals can access a high-quality postsecondary program that offers them the education and training they need to succeed after school. This is exactly what the pilot program is addressing. LSUE, JAG-LA, Ville Platte High, and the Evangeline Parish School Board have accelerate innovative strategies that provide educational opportunities for the JAG-LA students.
Increasingly, innovative models of education and training are emerging in education around the globe, with that evolution is the emergence of online training and fast-track certificate programs. These new models provide more flexible and more affordable credentials and educational options than those offered by traditional higher institutions, and are showing proven and validated effectiveness in preparing students with the training and education needed for better, in-demand jobs.
However, for students seeking access to these new models of education, there is a key barrier: funding. Because many of these new models fall outside of the traditional college accreditation system, students who wish to participate in them do not have access to federal financial aid. Under current law, federal financial aid goes overwhelmingly to students in traditional degree programs, while little is eligible to go to low-income students seeking to attend non-traditional or non-credit programs that may be a better fit for them.
To begin addressing the barrier, Cabot Corporations has actively engaged to ease the financial burden of launching this pilot partnership between the JAG students at Ville Platte High and LSUE by donating over $3000.00. Claudia Jenkins, Human Resource Manager at Cabot Cooperation stated, “Cabot prides itself on being a good neighbor and helping the community as much as possible. Providing funding to support programs such as this LSUE and JAG-LA initiative is just one way to help continue to enhance the education and training of kids in Evangeline Parish. This in turn helps to create a better workforce of skilled workers who will possibly become future hires at Cabot.”
The donation by Cabot allowed LSUE to enroll all 47 of the students into the CompTIA prep course. This prep course will expose the students to the terminology that is prevalent within the Information Technology industries. This prep course is a small component of a much larger strategic plan. The next phase of the pilot partnership will ensure 25 of the 47 JAG-LA students to enroll in the official certified CompTIA IT Fundamentals course as part of the summer program through the Louisiana Department of Education Jump Start Summers grant.
Johnny Deshotel, CTE Supervisor, with Evangeline Parish School Board wrote the grant and submitted it in February of this year. This grant will allow the continuation of the pilot program. Once completed, the students who have participated will earn an industry-based credential and will be well equipped with necessary skills and knowledge that the workforce needs.
Dianna Freeman-Johnson, JAG-LA Specialist, manages the program, which is at Ville Platte High School. Freeman-Johnson has helped change the lives of many of our local youth through her work--not only with JAG-LA but also with the Evangeline Parish Boys and Girls Club.
Building on Innovation The pilot program initiative is the latest in a series of projects LSUE has undertaken to stimulate innovation in career training and industry-based credentialing. This pilot partnership between LSUE and JAG-LA will equip more of our graduating youth with the skills, knowledge, and training they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow. Hamilton plans to expand the JAG-LA and LSUE partnership to all the parishes within the Acadiana “Cajun Country” Region as well as the Central “Crossroads” Region. She believes that, “It is important that this pilot program is successful because it will allow more partnerships with more JAG-LA programs and that only increases more equity by providing access to innovative educational programs for students from diverse backgrounds, particularly those from low-income background.”