Schools must work directly with business and industry to match skills, talent, and interests with workforce needs.

We often hear the media reporting that there is a shortage of specific skilled labor in Central Ohio. We have thousands of unfilled jobs due to lack of qualified applicants. This is a failure at both the education and business levels. Schools must partner with our area corporations to create the next generation of workers. We, as educators, can’t keep doing what we are doing and expect different results.

Hilliard Schools are engaging several area businesses, inviting them to our Innovation Campus, and having them teach specific skills to our students. We are creating a recruitment pipeline to the job market. Some students will have the opportunity to “earn to learn” when they graduate from Hilliard. They will be hired directly from in-school experiences, into good paying jobs, with opportunities for advancement within the company.

Where we see gaps, we must partner to close them. We must breakdown silos and historic firewalls to solve problems together. Turf battles and institutional barriers may protect adult interests, but harm efforts to prepare students for success. We all must step up and do the work