Staff report

On Wednesday, a trip took place to further the vision of Barren County Schools’ Superintendent Bo Matthews for expanding the career and technical offerings for students in Barren County.

The trip was planned in partnership with Hardin County Schools to allow community stakeholders to tour the Early College and Career Center and to hear about the partnership the community formed to create new high-demand pathways for students.

Matthews commented, “We realize our partnerships with community leaders, higher education institutions, business and industry are vital in planning a facility that will serve the needs of preparing students for the 21st century workforce and economy. The idea behind many of the recent discussions came from facilities like the EC3 Center in Hardin County.”

The trip was organized by Barren County staff in order for stakeholders from most all aspects of the community to attend.

College and Career Development Coordinator Amy Irwin said, “We appreciate the great community support in taking this journey with us to explore the development of educational programs that will serve the workforce development goals of our region. High-quality Career and Technical education is crucial in meeting the challenges of the 21st century economy, and we value the ideas and expertise our community is contributing to this process.”

“Almost all aspects of the coursework at the EC3 Center are available in programs at Barren County and at the Area Technology Center,” said Scott Harper, Barren County Director of Instruction & Technology. “The most exciting aspects are the new opportunities for our students. The high interest STEM-related careers will better prepare our students for the jobs our community and nation need now and in the future.”

The trip began with an overview and tour of the Barren County Area Tech Center on Trojan Trail. The group, numbering 63, boarded two buses and a few cars to travel the 60 plus miles to the Hardin County EC3.

The group had several members of business and industry, Glasgow City Council, Barren County Fiscal Court, WKU, SKYCTC, local municipal agencies, Glasgow-Barren County Chamber of Commerce, local school districts, and many elected officials.

While there, the group was able learn more about the community partnership that formed, the new pathways that were created and the real-world experiences students are receiving.

Sen. David Givens said, “I commend this group of community members for coming together around this idea of building for the future.”

Some of the programs and experiences that were toured included pathway offerings in Energy Management, Automotive Technology, Engineering, Health Sciences, Information Technology, Welding and a state of the art Culinary Arts program that catered lunch for the group.

The delegation observed classrooms, labs and learning environments with modernized technology and training materials.

The group was able to have lunch with host Superintendent Nannette Johnston, who detailed the journey the Hardin County community took to get to their ultimate goal of creating the EC3 Center.

“What makes this center so unique is the partnerships that have emerged between school, community, industry and university. This is a big part of economic development within our community,” Johnston said.

Barren County Judge-Executive Micheál Hale remarked about the community trip by saying, “I have no doubt that the ideas presented on the trip today can be a reality for Barren County because of the powerhouse of people that were gathered today to build this vision together.”

The trip concluded with the group returning to the Barren County Area Tech Center to debrief from the day and discuss the learning of the group.

“We look forward to continued dialogue and the building of partnerships with community stakeholders as we plan for modernization of the current Area Technology Center, and the development of a new Career and Technical Education facility on the Barren County campus. We appreciate the amazing community support shown today in touring the EC3 center and contributing to this process,” Matthews said.

A follow-up partnership meeting is scheduled for Oct. 21 for the group to continue discussions and the planning process for developing facilities that will best serve the needs of the Barren County community.