Collaborative News

Career Center Adopts Holistic Approach
by Laurie Searle
Staff Writer

A new concept is unfolding in a career center at Stewart-Quitman High School in Lumpkin. Instead of the center focusing all of its attention on high school students, it is expanding its role to focus on the entire community.

The holistic approach is a collaborative effort by Stewart County Family Connection, Quitman County Family Connection, and many other partners, including Stewart County Board of Education, the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS), Stewart County Adult Education, the Georgia Department of Labor, Andrew College Educational Opportunity Center, Columbus Technical College, the Stewart County Cooperative Extension Service, and Congressman Sanford Bishop Jr.

Sherry Witherington, collaborative coordinator for Stewart County Family Connection, said three main factors affecting the local economy led to the new approach.

A major business closed, which left many people in the community jobless. When nursing jobs became available, they couldn't be filled due to the lack of qualified applicants, according to Witherington. Then construction began on a new prison in the area, offering the potential of many new jobs, and local leaders decided they needed to pool their resources to help the community prepare for this opportunity.

The Stewart-Quitman High School career center expanded its focus, and partners started gathering resources.

Witherington said that Congressman Bishop donated five computers to the lab, and Family Connection helped restock the facility. Several partners purchased books, career assessment tools, and supplies, while others donated time to teach workshops.

The local DFCS office will use the center once a week. The Department of Labor will offer assistance at the center for those looking for work, and the 21st Century Community Learning Center will use the center twice a week.

The collaborative also contacted the prison and other local businesses in the area to ask what they needed in job applicants to help develop programming for the career center. According to Witherington, the prison told the collaborative they only consider applicants who have a high school diploma or GED. Local businesses said applicants need to make a better first impression by improving their resumes, the way they dress, and their basic math and English skills. Armed with this information, the partners began developing the new career center programs.

"The career center is a work in progress that has really united our collaborative and our community," Witherington said. "This is a great example of maximizing local resources through collaboration.

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