Front Row: West Brunswick High School Health Sciences Teacher, Sheila Gerald; South Brunswick High School Health Sciences Teacher, Diane Batounis; Brunswick County School’s Career Ready Coordinator, Amy Sanders; Brunswick Community College Health Information Technology Program Director, Ms. Polly Decker; Back Row: Brunswick Community College President, Dr. Stephen Greiner; Dosher Memorial Hospital Senior Vice President—Chief Operating Officer and BCC Board of Trustees Chairperson, Lynda Stanley; South Brunswick High School Counselor, Lillian Lyndrup; Brunswick Community College Dean of Professional & Technical Programs, Gina Robinson; and Brunswick County Schools/Brunswick Community College CAS Coordinator, Jerry Smith.
SUPPLY, NC – The Brunswick County Schools/Brunswick Community College Tech Prep Consortium was recently selected as the 1st place recipient of the Daniel M. Hull and Dale P. Parnell Partnership Excellence Award by the National Career Pathways Network (NCPN).
The award is presented annually to exemplary Tech Prep and Career Pathway partnership programs that contain both school and work site components. The Brunswick County, North Carolina consortium was nominated by an NCPN member for its comprehensive approach for worksite learning in the health sciences career pathway. The partnership involves primary business partners Dosher Memorial Hospital and Brunswick Community Hospital, in conjunction with the Brunswick County Health Department and Emergency Management Services as well as numerous local medical practices, health care facilities, emergency service providers, public service agencies, and community organizations. The Brunswick County health sciences program begins with career exploration in the ninth grade; health science courses articulated with the community college, job shadowing, and internships for high school students; certificates and associates degrees for postsecondary students; and professional development and paid internship opportunities for teachers and counselors to stay apprised of current healthcare practices and workforce needs.
The Daniel M. Hull and Dale P. Parnell Partnership Excellence Award was established in 1994 by the Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD) and the National Tech Prep Network (now known as the National Career Pathways Network) to encourage partnerships between education and business to integrate meaningful worksite opportunities into their programs and to showcase the best of these programs. The award is named in honor of two visionaries who promoted student academic and career success for more than three decades and is supported through the educational interests of the Caterpillar Foundation and Texas Instruments.
In addition to national recognition among their Tech Prep and Career Pathway peers, as the 2009 first place winner the Brunswick County consortium received a $3,000 cash prize and a $7,500 training voucher from CORD. A Brunswick County representative also received travel funding to attend the 2009 NCPN Conference in Atlanta Georgia where the awards were presented at the 2009 NCPN membership luncheon on Friday, October 2, 2009. The winning program was also presented during a featured breakout session at the NCPN conference.
The National Career Pathways Network (www.ncpn.info) provides leadership and resources for educators, employers, and community leaders. NCPN’s annual conference offers over 200 sessions that provide professional development and networking for career pathways and tech prep leaders, counselors, faculty, administrators and employers interested in the academic and career success of secondary and postsecondary students.
