Going Business Class

Chemistry teacher Helen Fanning knows that few of her students at Stratford High School will grow up to become chemists.

A year ago, she thought of herself as an educator who was preparing pupils for higher-level science classes, helping some get into college while trying to convey basic skills such as solving problems and meeting deadlines.

But her mind-set changed during a yearlong program for Charleston area educators, when Fanning saw chemistry happen in the real world.

Through the program, she heard hospitality workers talk about combining cleaning products to create new mixtures that were tailored for specific messes. Manufacturing executives talked about the viscosity of various lubricants. And she saw that many companies followed the same safety procedures that she enforced in class.

The experience helped her realize that she wasn't just teaching textbook lessons — this was information that her students could use someday to earn a paycheck.

The 10-year-old program was set up to help educators such as Fanning understand what skills the modern work world demands. Teachers may be good at getting students to learn a lesson, but many acknowledge that there's a disconnect between what they're teaching to students and what local employers want their workers to know.

"I didn't have a clue what (employers are) looking for in students," Fanning said. "I'm ashamed to say that, after 30 years in the classroom, I'd never really thought about it much."

Getting wise

The program, formally known as the Workplace Institute for Educators but often abbreviated as WISE, was started in 1998 by the Education Foundation, a nonprofit arm of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce. It runs on about $10,000 annually from the chamber's annual fund raising campaign, said Executive Director Allen Wutzdorff.

Since its creation, about 350 local educators have "graduated" from the program.

Each year, participants tour local businesses and meet with major employers to discuss their work force needs. At the end of the session, they spend several days shadowing one company.

"We give them all business cards, and we encourage them to meet again," Wutzdorff said. "We really encourage that interaction because business and education are different cultures, and we don't often speak each other's language."

Participants have told Wutzdorff that the program reinforced the need for soft skills such as problem-solving, effective communication and teamwork.

Jodi Bateman, a program graduate who oversees a similar workplace-education program for the Charleston County School District, said that the WISE course puts the spotlight back on two-year vocational programs, such as those offered at Trident Technical College.

Bateman was surprised at how much money some local manufacturing workers, especially in the aerospace and automotive industries, could make after obtaining a specialized degree. She said she used to associate those pay levels with a four-year college degree and beyond.

"We want kids to go as far as they can, and college is great for some, but sometimes a two-year program is a good start," she said. "There are so many jobs out there (for two-year program graduates), and they're making so much money — more than I was making with my master's degree."

Executives at Benefitfocus Inc., which hosted a technology forum for the WISE program, saw looks of surprise when they told participants about the range of jobs available at the company's Daniel Island headquarters.

About half of the company's roughly 415 employees work directly on developing its health care-related computer software. The rest work in areas such as graphic design, customer service and the call center, said Nina Sossamon-Pogue, vice president of media.

"We have to have someone to sell it, to market it, to throw parties for us," she said. "There's a lot things going on in the corporate world that, when you're in the teaching world, you might not know about."

Major initiative

Even educators who have backgrounds in other industries have used the program to brush up on the latest technology requirements.

CRG Engineering Inc. of North Charleston took in a Fort Dorchester High School math teacher, who watched the company draft plans for a new local bank branch. Civil engineers showed him how to prepare the site work. Structural engineers tested the building's strength. Other engineers made sure that the mechanical, electrical and plumbing system would work inside.

The engineering process has been made more simple in the past few years, for example, by a new computer program that merges three-dimensional drawing plans, said marketing coordinator Elizabeth DeLoach.

"There are certainly principles that are timeless, but there are emerging technologies that make the engineering job easier than it used to be," she said.

Educators' need to know about different careers grew more important under the state's Education and Economic Development Act, which passed in May 2005.

The law creates college-style "majors" at the high school level, allowing students to take courses that relate to certain career fields, such as information technology or communications. This spring, South Carolina sophomores will have to pick a major and find classes that complement their pick.

Bateman said the WISE program will help educators recommend career paths, taking some of that burden off of guidance counselors who often are assigned to hundreds of students.

"If you don't know what's out there, what's in our area and where the trends are going, it's going to be hard for you to help the kids with picking a major," Bateman said.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.