LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The new school year begins in Fayette County next week, but the learning is already underway for hundreds of teachers within the district. On Monday they took part in the Kentucky Chamber Foundation Educator’s Guide to Industry Conference, which offered a front row seat to the inner workings of five different Lexington businesses.
“To be able to really see what it’s like on a work site and be able to convey that to students,” said Beth Fain, the Academy Coach at Tates Creek High School. “They’ll be able to see what those job skills are like in the field so they can apply them at school,” Fain continued.
Space Tango, Grimes Restaurants, Triyam, Camp Bow Wow, and Gray all opened their doors for instruction and demonstrations. For Tates Creek’s Engineering and Technology teacher, the time at Gray, which works in increasing efficiency through the use of robotics and technology, was well spent.
“We look for ways to take our classroom and make it realistically the same,” Mr. Jenkins said, before rattling off several aspects of the work at Gray he saw on Monday that’ll be useful in the classroom. “As an educator, we look through a lens of how can we take this environment back to the students,” he said of his goal for the day.
The Academy at Tates Creek High School affords students a chance to start thinking about a career, or area of study, by getting some training in professional settings, or as close to a profession setting as possible.
“They’re there (in the classroom) for a reason,” Jenkins said. ”We want to provide them with every opportunity we can so when they get out they have some direction,” he continued.
At Gray, the teachers watched a few demonstrations involving the company’s high-tech gadgets and machinery, but Mr. Jenkins was looking beyond the technology as well.
“How do they work with people? How do they write their reports? How do they showcase their information? Where’s the teamwork, and collaboration,” he mentioned as being some of the things he was looking to see and ultimately share with his students beginning next week.
