OPINION |
As we near the end of Black History Month, I enjoy sharing information about a few recent recognitions in Springfield for people of color and people of culture.
People of culture is a fairly new term aimed at recognizing individual cultures to address the needs of individual intersectional groups to provide access and opportunity to everyone. This includes understanding as a society we need to move away from blaming certain individuals for their circumstance and look at what caused the circumstance.
When I look back on the history of this country, it is fair to say many laws, policies and processes were put in place to keep some people out, rather than building systems of inclusion. I applaud the Mayor and City Council for publicly adopting five pillars of equity and the work of the Equity and Prosperity Commission’s Community Action Plan to refine systems to make access to resources and services more inclusive. I also want to highlight a few recognitions and key programs in Springfield for early and continued efforts to access and inclusion.
The Wall Street Journal recently recognized Springfield as one of the best places to live for working remotely. In 2021, Springfield was ranked No. 2 among the best-paying cities for people of color according to a report from credit building company Self Financial Inc. (midsize metro category of 350,000 to 999,999 people).
These are great reports for attracting talent to Springfield. However, do you know about some of the programs in the Springfield area to “grow our own talent” and develop existing talent?
SPS developing Future Educators
Springfield Public Schools, the largest school district in Missouri, works with current students to develop pools of talent for recruitment. The SPS Grow Your Own Program connects students enrolled at SPS, current non-certified staff and new educators to career opportunities. SPS offers Future Educators clubs at middle schools and tuition grant writing support for paraprofessionals to become teachers. This approach provides a pathway for the district’s workforce to become more representative of its student body, which is more than 20 percent diverse. Grow your own programs are nationwide and used as a way school districts or institutions can diversify their workforce.
Other organizations collaborate with SPS and other school districts to align workforce needs with learning opportunities. The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce has several programs to provide greater awareness of career opportunities for current teachers and businesses. Every summer business leaders have an opportunity to show teachers and administrators aspects of their business through a “GO CAPS Teacher Externship” program. Teachers attend workshops at various business locations and learn about local area business internships, jobs, and careers. The program is designed for educators and administrators to take their experiences in area businesses back to their school to better prepare students for incredible career and job opportunities when they graduate from high school.
According to Karen Kunkel, the GO CAPS Teacher Externship Program was designed to promote the philosophy of the GO CAPS Program: connecting business and education. The GO CAPS Program for high school juniors and seniors connects students with a wide range of career opportunities, but the experience is limited to the students in the program. The Teacher Externship Program invites middle school and high school educators and administrators to connect with area businesses by experiencing industries and professional fields outside of their normal school environment.
Shantra Tucker, Regional Manager for JAG-Missouri, said: “The externship is the much-needed bridge between the school and our employers. Through expert panel discussions, tours of a variety of businesses, and collaborative discussions with peers we are able to put a plan together to help our students be more prepared for the workforce and create a workforce pipeline for our students. … My students have benefited so much from my participation in this opportunity.”
The City of Springfield has several programs as well. One program is I-Create — a manufacturing showcase for area high school students. Last year, over 500 students participated in the showcase and were able to engage with 20 companies with hands-on experience. Ozarks Technical Community College’s Plaster Center for Advanced Manufacturing hosted the event with several interactive activities.
Opening access leads to poverty reduction
These are just a few mentions. However, I believe data tells the success of the programs as described in the two reports mentioned at the beginning of this article. Over the past few years our private, public, and social sectors learned that if we use data to make decisions and look at policies and practices that prevent access and inclusion, Springfield could create better ecosystems to address the community goals to reduce poverty and increase education beyond high school.
The goals are to reduce poverty by five (5) percentage points and increase postsecondary educational attainment (education beyond high school) to 60 percent, both by 2025. Poverty levels were reduced over 10 percent for African Americans/Blacks and Hispanics/Latinx.
Springfield ended 2022 only 0.4 percentage points away from meeting the goal to reduce poverty by five percentage points by 2025 (U.S. Census 5-Year ACS Reports).
- The percentage of people in poverty in Springfield decreased by 4.6 percentage points between 2014 (25.7%) and 2022 (21.1%)
- Greene County’s poverty rate decreased by 5.8 percentage points during the same time period (from 19.0% to 13.2%)
- Meanwhile, post-secondary attainment is 42.3 percent — an increase of 1.8 percentage points (2019 to 2021, Lumina Foundation Strong Nation Report).
Policies and practices that lift everyone up is key to our community’s continued success. We have an election coming up for School Board where our future workers and leaders are being trained. Please remember to vote for two candidates. When we help one group we help all groups.
