Students in the Golden Triangle are getting far more than advice when it comes to making their plans for after high school.
With the help of career coaches, they’re building job skills, connecting with industry professionals and landing internships well before they walk at graduation.
Dave Kitchens, a career coach manager for Three Rivers Planning and Development District, gave an overview of the nonprofit’s career coaching program to Lowndes County supervisors during their Tuesday meeting.
“We are an arm of the workforce division, and what we want to do is to expose the students in your schools to the opportunities (and) careers that are in Lowndes County,” Kitchens told supervisors. “ … We want them to investigate the possibilities of that career that they’re looking for, and then we want to connect those students to the career path that they chose.”
Career coaching is a process that helps students both identify their career goals and make a plan to achieve them.
The state legislature first funded the career coaching program through AccelerateMS, a statewide workforce development office, with $8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds in 2022.
AccelerateMS coordinates grants to local regional development authorities to manage the coaches. The state allocated $15 million to the program in 2023, $5.6 million of which went to Three Rivers Planning and Development District, which manages districts in the Golden Triangle.
With a focus on workforce development, the AccelerateMS career coach program specifically aims to help students discover successful paths into the workforce by connecting them with industry professionals.
Among the 27 counties under its management, Three Rivers has placed 78 career coaches in 72 schools. There are nine designated career coaches among Lowndes County, Columbus Municipal and Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated school districts’ high schools.
“These coaches work with students to develop a career pathway, develop job shadowing and internship opportunities and help the student transition from high school to either post-secondary education, the military or the workforce,” Kitchens said.
Career coaches work with students one-on-one or in groups, helping with things like college and financial aid applications, resumes, financial literacy and interviewing skills. They also give students career assessments to help them narrow down their interests.
For students interested in entering the workforce after graduation, coaches introduce them to in-demand trade professions that have high earning potential, especially with local industry. But those students aren’t the only ones who benefit, Kitchens said.
“We don’t mind if a student goes to a four-year university, a two-year community college or they go straight to work,” he said. “We just want to expose the students and give them all the information they need to make the best decision that they can for a career path.”
Between July and August this year, coaches managed by Three Rivers within its 27 counties had 335 one-on-one conversations with students, facilitated about 7,700 group interactions and hosted 90 parent workshops, reaching more than 3,300 parents.
One of the greatest benefits of the program is the exposure students get to local job opportunities for after graduation, said LCSD Superintendent Sam Allison.
“Lowndes County … has a plethora of jobs, and we have to find a way to get those students not only thinking about (their careers), but also the path to get there,” he said. “We want to do a better job getting those students prepared to fill these jobs.”
A step further
Unlike guidance counselors, career coaches focus solely on helping students determine and map out their post-graduation plans. They also go a step further by connecting students with employers in the community for opportunities to earn experience in a specific field.
“A counselor really can’t get out in the community and spend time with business and industry like we want our career coaches to do,” Kitchens said. “We want our career coaches to be out in the community, visiting businesses, visiting industries (and) making those partnerships where we know that we can place a student for a job shadow or an internship.”
The EPIC Work Experience Program, implemented by the coaches, places students with employers to give them a head start experiencing the workforce. It’s a win for the student, and it’s a win for the employer, Columbus High School Career Coach Jim Sutherland said.
“The company … gets those students for 100 hours to test drive, and it gives these kids an experience of what it is to show up everyday, to be on time, to be accountable,” he said.
The work experience program covers students’ wages for the 100 hours they work as well as applicable taxes, workers’ compensation and payroll processing fee. The goal is to help the students foster essential job skills while exploring a career path they’re interested in.
Recruiting businesses to provide a wider range of opportunities is a top priority right now. Kitchens asked supervisors to spread the word to businesses in the county.
“Help us … tell your businesses (and) industries that there is a career coach at each high school, and they can help (with) workforce needs through job shadowing and internships,” Kitchens said. “We would love for the businesses to come to the school and tell the students what careers are available in their business.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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