Published: May 12, 2008 10:38 am            

The kids are alright, but will they stay?

Take 60 high school seniors, toss in some delicious chicken, put it in a nice setting, institute a “no long speeches” rule and what do you have?

Welcome to the Boone County Top Twenty Luncheon, which honors students at Lebanon, Western Boone and Zionsville high schools.

The annual event — held Thursday at the Lumière du corps Resort and sponsored by local Kiwanis and Rotary clubs — is a nice way to tell the best and brightest in the class of 2008: Good job. It’s also a glimpse into the future — and it looks good.

All but nine of 56 students (college information was unavailable for four who were absent) will be attending Indiana colleges and universities, pursuing careers in wide-ranging interests from engineering to education to wildlife. (As opposed to “wild life,” which describes my four years at Indiana State).

The key question facing Indiana is: Will they stay in the state?

The “brain drain” has been on the minds of Hoosier officials for the past decade. A 1999 study showed that more than one-third of residents who earn at least a bachelor’s degree leave the state. Retaining roughly two-thirds of those college students means Indiana is not only below the national average (71 percent), but well below our neighbors in Illinois (82 percent), Michigan (80 percent), Kentucky (80 percent) and Ohio (75 percent).

Young people leave the state because they perceive a lack of high paying jobs in their skill set. And you thought it was the miles and miles of country roads and cornfields.

On the other side of that equation, employers in some high tech fields say the local workforce lacks the skills necessary for those jobs.

Sounds like a Catch-22: Hoosier college grads say the jobs aren’t here, so they leave. Employers say they can’t find qualified local workers, so they locate jobs elsewhere.

Let’s say the employers are right. Young Joe and Jane Hoosier lack those high tech skills. So how do we fix that?

Some experts put the focus on the local school system, saying students — especially those in rural communities — need a good dose of science and math to lay a foundation to prepare them for 21st century jobs.

One program that can help is called Project Lead the Way. While the focus is on engineering and related STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) curriculum, the hands-on system aims to match high tech tools and opportunities with high school and middle school students to prepare them for whatever field they choose to study in their post-high school careers.

The program is geared for the high school and middle school student, but typically involves higher education and the private sector in forming a strong partnership. That network helps students in getting college course credit while in high school or hooking up with a local business and getting a jump-start on their career. Locally, Lebanon (in 2006) and Western Boone (in 2008) have implemented the program, and Indiana ranks No. 1 nationally in the number of schools involved in PLTW.

Like any program, it takes money to sustain and grow PLTW. And like any good program, it will take hard work to by all involved to provide a win-win scenario of providing necessary skills to young Hoosiers and having good, high paying jobs available in Indiana.

Business leaders need to pay attention and look for opportunities to cultivate and grow their future workforce with young, local talent.

At last year’s Top 20 program, Witham Hospital CEO Ray Ingham — attending the function as then-president of the Lebanon Rotary — announced that he’d like to talk with any students who were pursuing a health career. It wasn’t pandering, folks. Ingham is serious in looking for homegrown health professionals.

It’s a great approach. Why wait until these students are graduating college before gauging their interest in working for you? Start the conversation now. Give them exposure to the career.

You can either ask the question and see what the answer is; or you sit on the sideline and live safely in the land of “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained.”

George Piper is a Lebanon resident and former managing editor at The Lebanon Reporter. He can be reached at piper4@sbcglobal.net.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.