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In just a few years, students graduating from McHenry County school districts may find themselves working in jobs that don’t exist now, according to their school district superintendents.
The challenge is being aware of the changes ahead and preparing students for them.
“We need to be thinking 20 years ahead. If we are only thinking 10 years ahead, we are already behind,” Superintendent Martina Smith of Algonquin-based Community School District 300, told area business leaders Thursday.
Smith, along with the leaders of Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 and Huntley Community School District 158, participated in a “State of Education” discussion Thursday hosted by the Algonquin/Lake in the Hills Chamber of Commerce at the Illinois Golf Club in Algonquin.
“The communication with everyone is huge, as you learn more about what businesses are doing and what they need” from future employees, Algonquin Village President Debbie Sosine said.
The school district leaders covered topics that resonated in the businesses community, including preparing students for the workforce and teaching the ideas of entrepreneurship.
Business leaders in the room are part of the partnerships District 155 needs for their students “to access the careers they may take on after high school,” Superintendent Neil Lesinski said.
He highlighted companies that work with D-155’s micro-internship program for juniors and seniors, getting students on-site at workplaces for a minimum of 10 hours to determine if that work is something they want to consider.
“They can try on careers, and once tried, determine that something is not” for them, Lesinski said. “Others will lean into their passion ... and leave high school with a better sense of purpose.”
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Huntley High School’s medical academy has slots for 30 students, Superintendent Jessica Lombard said. That program allows students to have rotations, much like actual medical school, to see what area best suits their interests.
“One student saw the birth of a baby” in the program, Lombard said. “Those are things you don’t get to do from a book.”
All three districts offer an incubator program, giving students the opportunity to take a product from development to pitching it to “investors.”
“It is like ‘Shark Tank,’ without the money,” Smith said, referring to the TV series where entrepreneurs pitch their products to a panel of potential investors. She also noted the district is bringing back broadcasting classes.
“We lost that somewhere along the way,” Smith said.
Lesinski said he was at a pitch event the previous evening, where students “came up with a nasal inhaler to help you wake up in the morning.”
He didn’t say if students came up with the idea because high school students are notoriously heavy sleepers, but that he was excited to see where that creativity would take them. He also asked for volunteer panelists for future product pitches.
All three superintendents asked the business leaders to reach out to help set up internship and apprenticeship programs, or even as mentors to students as they consider future careers.
Business leader feedback is also needed as the District 158 school board and staff prepare the district’s strategic plan. Huntley’s district brought in 50 area leaders from many different areas to help develop its next five-year plan, Lombard said.
Those plans are not static.
“We are constantly going back, getting feedback, and listening to stakeholders about the goals and the outcomes,” Lombard said.
Sosine, who has long been involved in District 300 as a parent and grandparent, said that she’s seen vast changes in education and the schools: “It is not just focused on going to college but the whole person and all of the alternatives that are out there.”