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At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Winchester, Winchester-Clark County Industrial Development Authority Executive Director Brad Sowden and Clark County Public Schools Superintendent Dustin Howard were among the individuals speaking of how local businesses are partnering with George Rogers Clark High School to recruit and hire skilled technical workers. 

Shortly thereafter, additional staff talked about what helps make this possible.

GRC Academic and Career Pathways showcase a variety of disciplines that can help students prepare for the workforce and gain experience for once they graduate. 

“When we talk about pathways at GRC, what we’re talking about is basically an educational roadmap that kind of guides us through high school courses…that are most relevant to their career destination,” said George Rogers Clark High School Principal Luke Toy.

Presently, 21 pathways are offered. 

Among them are automotive, carpentry, childhood development, culinary, engineering, information technology, JROTC, journalism and multimedia, nursing and health sciences, PLTW biomedical science, and welding. 

The school also offers different disciplines focused on agriculture, such as agribusiness systems, agricultural animal science, agriculture environmental science and natural resources, agriculture horticulture, and agriculture mechanics. 

“We try to tailor the pathways that we offer to marketing [needs],” Toy said. “The state of Kentucky has a huge list of different pathways that we could offer. If you look at just the [agriculture] pathways, those are the ones we selected as a school that are most relevant to the area.” 

Previously, academic and career pathways have existed through George Rogers Clark High School. 

While many programs are taught through the Area Technology Center located on the campus of GRC and others are taught in the school itself, they serve a common goal. 

However, as has been a large talking point, Clark County Public Schools have been a leading advocate lately when it comes to real-world experience for students. 

“I know for 99% of our students [and employers] that experience trumps anything we can do here,” Toy said. “We give them a good base, but we need the community’s help in order to give them real-world practical experience….we’re really trying to ramp up our community partnerships.” 

While being sure to thank Adecco Staffing, which has a location on Bypass Road, CCPS Director of Community Schools Initiative Christy Bush noted that Sowden has played an integral role. 

“He is very instrumental in having those meetings…and helping us bridge our world with his world,” Bush said. “It’s [been] a great partnership since he’s been here.” 

With the goal in mind to further connect resources and ATC pathways and keep the community engaged and more, Toy offered some closing thoughts. 

“We’re…extending an open invitation to the community. If they have interest in anything that we can help provide here as a school or any opportunities that they have, we want to connect our kids to it,” he said. “I just want to reiterate that our open invitation is still there…we are working not just to educate kids, but [also] to build a better community and we feel like these partnerships are really [going to] help us do that.”