Aiken Works, a community workforce development collaborative being led by Aiken County Public Schools, has been named a finalist for the prestigious 2017 InnoVision Innovation in Education Award. The District and its early partners in the collaborative will be recognized at an awards banquet on November 9 in Spartanburg, where this year’s award winner will be named.
Aiken County Public Schools launched the Aiken Works initiative in January of 2017. The initiative aims to promote increased awareness and education to students, families, adult workers, teachers, school counselors and career development facilitators about the industries expected to be in highest demand of future employees, including Energy, Cyber Technology, Industrial Manufacturing and Healthcare; redefine and broaden the traditional definition of post-secondary success to include opportunities such as military service, technical school and a viable career with opportunity for advancement and continued education; and increase opportunities for students to engage in work-based learning in order to ensure that all students graduate with both a diploma and an employable skill set.
Through print advertisements, articles, billboards, and a “Road Tour” that’s making a stop at every high school for a home football game this season, Aiken Works is gearing up to be a community economic and workforce development machine. And according to Merry Glenne Piccolino, the District’s Director of Communications and Community Partnerships, they’ve just gotten started; a television commercial campaign is expected to launch next month (October).
“We are thrilled our Aiken Works community collaborative has been recognized by InnoVision as a finalist for the 2017 Innovation in Education Award,” she said. “We look forward to continuing the work-based learning conversation with our community while presenting our students with the best available opportunities to succeed as future-ready, solution-driven graduates.”
InnoVision was founded in 1999 by professional services firm Deloitte as South Carolina’s premier organization dedicated to advancing technology through communication, education and recognition of the spirit of innovation and technological progress.
Previous winners of the InnoVision Innovation in Education Award include SC Future Minds (2016), recognized for developing a branded, digital “Donate Now” button for school websites across the state that provides an easy way for public schools to solicit on-line donations for students and teachers; Clemson University Reading Recovery and Early Literacy Training Center of South Carolina (2015), recognized for their Record of Reading application, which provides an electronic form for taking a running record, a method for observing and assessing a child’s oral reading; and ActivED (2014), recognized for development of the research-based online tool Walkabout, which transforms standards-based math and language content into short, movement-rich activities for Pre-K through Second Grade students.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” Piccolino continued. “The recognition from InnoVision will absolutely help propel Aiken County forward as a hub of cyber technology, industrial manufacturing, health and energy.”
For more information about Aiken Works, please visit www.aikenworks.org.
LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2017 AIKEN WORKS INNOVISION FINALIST