Thu, Nov 26 2009
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County fails to make higher-education grade higher education, Ashtabula County is at the bottom of the class., Census Bureau, high school diploma By CARL E. FEATHER - Lifestyle Editor - cfeather@starbeacon.comStar Beacon Inside-out thinking
Kimberly Landis sees another side of the issue: a pervasive attitude that doesn’t recognize the value of post-high school education. Landis, executive director of ACCESS (Ashtabula County Continued Education Support Services), preaches a gospel of higher education to students and their families at all grade levels. Gone are the days, says Landis, when a high-school graduate could hire on at one of the chemical plants or factories in Ashtabula County, make a living wage and stay here until retirement. However, many parents and grandparents were able to do that, and they expect as much for their children. “Forty years ago, a high school degree was good enough,” Stocker says. “But that’s not good enough anymore. It’s trying to convince the parents and the children they need to get a college education.” This attitude creates an atmosphere of unpreparedness. If parents never have gone to college, they have no idea how much it costs or how to plan for that expense, which catches them totally off guard when their high school-age students decide they want to continue their education. They also don’t know how to navigate the paperwork involved in applying to colleges or what to expect on campus, Landis says. She estimates that about 75 percent of the students in Ashtabula County would be first-generation college students. To help this population access higher education, ACCESS counselors work in every high school. In addition, Conneaut Area City Schools has a Gear Up college preparation program in the sixth grade. Zappitelli says the district is the only one in the county to have the program, which encourages kids to reverse their thinking about higher education. “The philosophy is that everybody is going to college and you opt not to,” Zappitelli says. “It’s inside-out thinking.” “It’s creating a college-going culture,” says Landis, who oversees the ACCESS Advisory Program. Students receive assistance in setting career goals, defining courses needed to get into higher education, finding financing and facing down other obstacles, such as not being socially prepared for campus life or dealing with parental concern that a child will leave the area and never return after college. Landis also has begun to work with Growth Partnership (GP) for Ashtabula County to survey area industries to determine what kinds of degrees will be needed by applicants aspiring to return to the county after college. Landis says among those surveyed thus far, engineering degrees are mentioned most often. Majors in science, math and business are also listed. Joseph Mayernick, executive director of GP, says his group is working with area manufacturers to set up internships. He feels there are many opportunities for college graduates to put their skills to work in the county. Mayernick says many local employers go outside the county to recruit engineering and other top positions, despite the concept of a local brain drain. “It’s here, if they look for it,” he says. In addition, Mayernick says Ashtabula County’s workforce is aging and there will be a deficit of qualified workers in the near future. Michael Sawruk, who heads up human resources at Millennium Inorganic Chemicals (Cristal) in Ashtabula Township, says their aging workforce is a concern. “Over the next five years, we will probably need 50 to 60 plant operators because of retirements,” he says. He says they’ll look at hundreds of resumes and applications in the process of filling just one position. The jobs are highly sought, paying more than $20 an hour once the worker is qualified for the post, and in the range of $25 an hour for skilled positions. Most of these positions do not require a college degree, but workers must have strong mechanical skills and or/ industrial experience and training. 
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