NEWPORT — To aid area high-schoolers in achieving career readiness, Arkansas State University-Newport has kick-started the IGNITE Academy this semester.
The IGNITE Academy is a two-year program that offers students from the Jackson County, Newport Special, Cedar Ridge and Bradford school districts transferable credit and certificates in computer network technology, welding, service mechanics and phlebotomy/certified nursing assistant. The program is at no cost to the local districts because the university and the Arkansas Deparment of Education have covered the cost.
“The students in our area weren’t being served by a technical center,” said Holly Ayers, vice chancellor for academic affairs at ASUN. “We were basically trying to fill a gap that we had identified.”
Monday through Thursday, students from the schools are bused to the ASUN campus, where they attend a class and lab related to their chosen program. On Fridays during their first year in the program, students attend a College and Life Skills course, which covers organization, note-taking and time management.
In their second year on Fridays, participants take a Workforce Essentials course, which explores the development of soft skills needed for the workforce. Fridays are also the days when students receive help if they missed a course or are falling behind.
“They are still high school students, and we are aware of that,” Ayers said.
Each IGNITE Academy program offered through ASUN provides students a certificate of proficiency from the university. The computer networking and technology certificate can be applied to an Associate of Applied Science degree in computer and networking technology. The welding certificate can be applied to a technical certificate and an Associate of Applied Science degree in general technology.
The service maintenance certificate can be applied to a technical certificate in diesel technology and an Associate of Applied Science degree in general technology. Through the certified nursing assistant/phlebotomy program, students also complete courses needed to apply for the licensed practical nursing program and to transition into the Associate of Applied Science degree in registered nursing.
Cedar Ridge School District Superintendent Andy Ashley said the IGNITE Academy offers students the opportunity to leave high school with job skills.
“They can either do that as a career, or that can lead into other certifications and other degrees,” he said. “It’s kind of a stepping stone for the students.”
Ashley said only a couple of students from the district are enrolled in the academy, and that is because the district didn’t learn of its participation in the program until the summertime.
“I really think that next year, we’ll have a lot more kids attending,” he said.
The pilot year of the program was designed to accept 70 students, and 57 area students are currently enrolled in the academy.
“The feedback has been very positive,” Ayers said. “We had our IGNITE Academy ribbon cutting just a couple of weeks ago, and we had student speakers. They did a fabulous job. The students are really thinking ahead. They’re thinking about the skills they are building that are going to make them viable in the job market. That was nice to see.”
Tuckerman High School senior Sierra Clark is enrolled in the phlebotomy/certified nursing assistant program in the IGNITE Academy. Clark is one of the 19 Jackson County School District students enrolled in the academy.
“I’m wanting to be a phlebotomist, and our counselor here called me one day and asked if I’d like to be in [the program],” she said. “It’s a lot different. The work is a lot harder. We actually get to do hands-on stuff. We get to take each other’s blood.”
Clark, 17, said she plans to attend ASUN and enter the surgical tech program.
“My favorite part is getting to learn what it’s like to work in the health field,” she said of the academy. “That’s really good for someone as young as I am.”
Zack Jones, also a senior at Tuckerman High School, said he entered the service maintenance program to further his knowledge in diesel mechanics.
“I like it. It’s just got a lot of hands-on work, a little bit of book work, but not too much,” he said. “[We’ve learned] just service and maintenance, and we’ve learned batteries and suspension and brakes. We got that out of the book, and we go do hands-on work to repair them. I’ve never really been good with book work. I’d just rather do it and learn by doing it.”
Chester Shannon, superintendent of the Jackson County School District, which includes Tuckerman High School, said he has looked forward to a program like IGNITE Academy for years. Shannon said past graduates have gone on to work for Caterpillar or John Deere, and that the IGNITE Academy will give current students a leg up.
“If we can put something in place that even makes them more employable right after high school, then we would be wrong not to take advantage of it and do it,” he said.
Larry Bennett, superintendent of the Newport Special School District, said the district’s participation in the IGNITE Academy gives students more options for career readiness.
“They’re taking more in-depth courses than what we can provide,” he said. “For example, we have an ag program here at the high school, and we do teach welding, but it’s not to the extent that they can get at the college.”
Bennett said there are 13 students from the Newport Special School District in the IGNITE Academy and that they are all making good grades.
“We were named a school of innovation, and it’s because of that, we got eight different state rules waived, which allowed us a lot more flexibility where kids can come and go,” he said of students being bused to the ASUN campus.
Schools designated as schools of innovation create alternative instructional methods to improve academics.
Ayers said that next year, the program will take up to 140 students and will expand to include the Augusta and McCrory school districts. Applications will be available at the high schools and must be completed by the end of the spring semester of a student’s sophomore year.
“I’d definitely recommend it,” Jones said. “It’s a good program.”
For more information, visit asun.edu.
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.