Originally published to Koaa News 5 - October 4th, 2021
COLORADO SPRINGS — Career experts say there's not only a labor shortage in our workforce, but there's also a skills gap. Meaning, applicants just don't have the knowledge or experience to compete for a job.
Two online schools in our area want to help change that. Destinations Career Academy and Pikes Peak Online School are two education platforms that want to fill this worker shortage. They're doing this by expanding their curriculum and adding more classes for adults who want to go back to school. Both of these schools are Stride K12 schools, which is an online education provider.
As part of the Fall 2021 career prep, both schools are expanding their law and legal curriculum, with the hopes of attracting students to criminal justice, forensic science, technology, and other fields. These online schools are different because they are career-based which means they prepare students--as young as middle school--for the field of their choice.
We think that career prep opportunity prepares them in a way that no one else is really doing around the country," Dr. Shaun McAlmont, President of Career Learning Solutions at Stride, said. "This gets them to a point where they've explored their career options before they get to a university, so we're trying to do it earlier and earlier for students."
Educators also incorporate job shadowing with career professionals, so by the time the student graduates, they are on the right path to land that job and keep it.
Stride is also pledging to support African-American students in Colorado. Not only are they pledging to provide 10 million in scholarships, but they are also working on providing courses on systemic racism, and hiring more teachers of color.
To learn more about Destinations Career Academy and Pikes Peak Online School, visit https://codca.k12.com/ and https://ppos.k12.com
