Business community encouraged by Future School arrival

Editor’s note: Mary Huss is the public education specialist for the Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency. This essay is the final in a four-part series written by community partners of the Future School of Fort Smith. Link here for the first essay in the series, link here for the second essay, and link here for the third.

Opinions, commentary and other essays posted in this space are wholly the view of the author(s). They may not represent the opinion of the owners of Talk Business & Politics.
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As a citizen of Fort Smith, a parent, grandparent and public education director at Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency (ARORA), I am excited for the Future School of Fort Smith to open this August.

As the first, public, tuition-free charter school in Fort Smith, Future School will open with space for 150 students in 10th grade. As a part of the Future School outreach team, I know the school is truly a powerful coalition of families, community leaders, and business leaders in support of our students.

Through access to business and agency leadership, as well as guidance from dedicated teachers and community mentors, students develop real-world, diverse skills and mindsets. This focus on developing the talents, interests and abilities of students as individuals will help our community accomplish what Randy Zook, president of the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce, urged in a recent Talk Business & Politics article.

“The states and communities that address (workforce issues) in a meaningful and comprehensive way, … will be magnets for economic activity, and will generate growth and prosperity unlike anything we have experienced in decades.”

To bring this conversation home to Fort Smith, we spoke with CEO of ArcBest Corporation Judy McReynolds about what she saw as the benefits of Future School’s personalized approach to real-world education.

In sharing her perspectives on the needs of students as well as their soon-to-be employers, McReynolds said, “A personalized internship experience could be very helpful to students as they enter college, and would enable them to more quickly find their path as they survey career options.”

She also discussed the challenges in onboarding new employees, identifying a few common skill gaps that might be improved earlier through real world education options such as internships, advising and access to mentors in the community.

“Employees who can start working with a high level of competency in communication skills, problem solving, digital literacy and, quite simply, the ability to follow-through, are in high demand. In evaluating employee performance recently, we noticed that after a year of employment and on-the-job training, our logistics sales personnel doubled their productivity. If this kind of real-world skill development could be offered earlier, even in high school, it would benefit a person as a student and later as an employee,” she explained.

Continuing, she noted: “In addition to the value Future School will bring our community by personalizing the high school experience, we are excited about the current and future programming among the education institutions, such as at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and Fort Smith Public Schools.”

She cited the increased number of UAFS graduates hired by ArcBest, as being largely the result of the “adaptive and specific programs developed by innovative university leadership and instructors, which are very useful in the business world.”

McReynolds alo offered a wonderful comment about the work being done by educators in Fort Smith, saying: “Effective learning and encouragement will lead to innovation for our city. All businesses are looking for that.” This will help to not only cultivate the talents of our youth currently living in Fort Smith, it will help us to attract more families with school-aged children.”

With the encouragement of influential and successful business leaders such as McReynolds, I have no doubt Future School students will benefit from a wide variety of experiences in regional businesses and agencies. I am certain the outcome of the warm welcome being extended to Future School and the collaboration amongst all educators in Fort Smith will result in well-prepared young people, on the path to becoming productive, responsible citizens who will enhance and enrich our community.

I hope you will join me in cheering on the Future School team and spread the word.