Plans are being made in Lincoln County to involve local industry with programs academic institutions are creating to prepare students for local technical employment opportunities.

A meeting was held Tuesday to mix educators with employers. The group was initiated by the Mississippi Scholars Tech Master Program, which encourages students to pursue and perform well in a tech-prep course of study. The program seeks to improve Mississippi’s pool of talented labor force by recognizing students who plan to go through a one or two year technical certification school instead of college.

Copiah-Lincoln Community College, the Lincoln County School District, the Brookhaven School District, the Chamber of Commerce and the Mississippi Economic Council are working to integrate industry in to the classroom. They plan to train students for the available jobs in Mississippi.

“We have trained our students for so many years to work toward a four-year college that we have killed our workforce in the United States,” said Billy Sumrall, with Loyd Star High School Ag/Biotech Academy. “Students and parents have the mindset not to be skilled labor. There is a negative perception out there,” Sumrall added.

He explained that the community has to come together to de-stigmatize the concept of skilled labor, which would give students the opportunity to find good jobs they didn’t know existed.

Officials, educators and industry leaders met Tuesday at Rex Lumber Co. to discuss how to improve the agriculture and technical education in schools. They are currently working with Rex Lumber to offer students more practical training in the workforce and extend classroom experiences.

“This is not just an issue for Rex; lack of labor is a nationwide issue,” said Doug Boykin, with Rex Lumber. “There is a lot of needs in the industry for skilled labor. We want to marry local industry needs with what high schools and Co-Lin can provide. We need to let students and parents know the opportunities that let them stay at home.”

Rex has begun working with Co-Lin to develop a millwright program. The plan is in its infancy, but students will be able to compete for internships at the company to receive hands-on practical training and skills outside of the Co-Lin curriculum. The ultimate goal is for the school to offer a specific millwright program.

Jackie Martin, dean of Co-Lin Career-Technical Education, said that she wants students at Co-Lin to be giving the opportunity to receive on-the-job training through Rex that will teach them the technical skills of working as a millwright that are not currently being offered at the school. She said it would be a competitive internship that could possibly include scholarships and other benefits.

For the marriage to work, she outlined the list of skills that students currently receive at Co-Lin and compared it to the skills needed for a millwright job. There is a lot of overlap, but Martin wants the internship to help fill in some of the gaps as a short-term solution.

Rex will also working with students on a high school level in technical classrooms. Tom Myers with Rex Lumber said that the company will work with high school students in and out of the classrooms to discuss possible careers and help build core job skills such as resume building, interviewing and how to be a good employee. “If we can’t bring the student to the industry, we will bring the industry to the student,” he said.

“We want to expose students to job sites, not just classrooms,” said Brad Turner, with the Brookhaven School District Building Trades Institute. He said that students cannot get a real understanding for the workforce without experiencing jobs first hand. He proposes that students learn through several extended classroom experiences and job shadowing.

Garrick Combs, Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce executive director, said he thinks a lot of industries other than just Rex would be interested in getting involved in programs like this. He added that many companies need well-trained students.

“This is going to take some work, and it’s not going to happen overnight,” said Kay Burton, chamber marketing director. She added that it took some time for the Mississippi Scholars program to work.

Rex is one of many companies the schools are beginning to make connections with. The idea is to better train students for available jobs by connecting with industries to see exactly what skills will be needed for each job and to eliminate the stigma of professional/technical training.