A college education can be an important part of a student’s life, and those benefits bleed over into the community as students graduate and become skilled laborers in the local workforce. To highlight the importance of how local community colleges play into that cycle, Gov. Mike Beebe declared Dec. 1-5 as Community College Work$ Week.
“Providing the best local education and training possible to the citizens of Arkansas is vital to the process of enhancing the economic security of our state and its communities,” Beebe said in a press release. “Arkansas’ community colleges have long been leaders in providing our citizens with education and training to meet local workforce needs.”
Arkansas has 22 community colleges, and each of them held events throughout the week to highlight some of their unique offerings.
In Beebe, Arkansas State University-Beebe student Bailey Moses took time at Monday’s event to talk about how she has had opportunities through ASU-Beebe that will make an impact on the rest of her educational and professional life.
“I came here because I saw an opportunity,” she said, recalling the year before she enrolled at the school when she was approached about becoming a Leadership Scholar, a title that comes with a scholarship and on-campus responsibilities. Moses is now leadership president on campus.
“We’ve really taken a shot at increasing the student and social life this year,” she said of her work with other student leaders. “We do have a great time on this campus. You don’t have to just go to class and go home.”
Also at the ASU-Beebe Community College Work$ Week gathering, community members who work in businesses and industries that hire ASU-Beebe graduates spoke about how they respect and depend upon the education those graduates have received.
“The [John Deere Agriculture] Technology program here, the skills they have coming from this tech program, puts them at least three to four years more advanced as a technician versus those we get from many different companies,” Greenway Equipment recruiter Abby Powell said. “The technology is very advanced, and the quality of education these technicians receive with the Ag Tech program here is crucial for our company.”
Like the ASU-Beebe community, students and area residents around Ozarka College’s campuses gathered to share their perspectives about how the college has made an impact in the community.
“The statewide event provided a very good opportunity to reach out to our regional partners to explore our collective needs and to seek innovative ways to get our students into the workforce as soon as possible,” Ozarka College President Richard Dawe said. “We were privileged to host our invited guests at each of our four Ozarka College campuses, and we were certainly all inspired by our guest student and faculty speakers sharing aspects of their personal Ozarka journeys.”
Community College Work$ Week was recognized at participating two-year and technical colleges within the state by the Arkansas Community Colleges group, formerly known as the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges.
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.