Rockingham Community College News Release • February 15, 2024 • G. Hunt, Director of Public Information
(Rockingham County, NC) – Rockingham Community College has received $800,000 in funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation for a collaborative project that will help Rockingham County students explore careers at a young age and clearly define pathways to three high-demand career fields.
“The Golden LEAF Foundation is proud to support Rockingham Community College’s strategy to provide training for the workforce that will fill high demand advanced manufacturing, health care, and construction positions in the region,” said Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer, Scott T. Hamilton. “The career and technical education pipeline created by this partnership will help expand the number of students interested in these careers and provide area employers with a steady stream of talent.”
The project, called LevelUp Rockingham, involves the development of career pathways for students through a partnership of RCC, Rockingham County Schools, and Rockingham County Economic Development.
“It’s all focused on getting students into a pipeline in Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways,” said RCC President Dr. Mark O. Kinlaw.
The pathways, which all lead to industry-recognized credentials, are in the fields of advanced manufacturing, construction trades, and healthcare. Students will be exposed to such careers starting in middle school, and will be able to take high school courses in these pathways and further explore careers through RCC.
“The idea is to bring students to campus for coursework, to transport them here for labs,” Kinlaw said.
Some efforts to reach Rockingham County students prior to college are already in place. RCC has career coaches in the high schools, teaches some courses on the high school campuses, and works with RCS and Rockingham County Economic Development to hold a career expo for seventh and 10th graders on the RCC campus. The County worked with an agency to assist RCS in developing career pathways, and the same agency is working with RCC to align those RCS pathways with RCC’s workforce programs.
“If you or I were a parent, they could hand us a paper and say, ‘Here’s the pathway, here are the courses your student needs to take,’” Kinlaw said.
He noted that the Golden LEAF funding will cover faculty positions for RCC’s Welding and Construction Trades programs, and will help pay for equipment, supplies, and instructional technology in the three pathways. The funds also will cover a new county position that is a liaison for RCC, RCS, the county, and industry.
“We are excited to be a partner with RCC and RCS on this workforce development initiative and especially grateful to Golden LEAF for the funding that also includes a Workforce Development Manager position that will be housed in our Economic Development office,” said Leigh Cockram, Rockingham County director of Economic Development and Tourism.
“The generous support of the Golden LEAF Foundation as well as our strong partnership with RCC and the Rockingham County Economic Development Office will enable us to provide our students increased opportunities after graduation,” said John O. “Shawn” Stover III, Rockingham County Schools superintendent. “The awarding of this funding shows the power of coordination and collaboration at the county level. Our combined efforts will continue to keep Rockingham County competitive in attracting new businesses and residents as well as serve as a model for other counties to follow.”
Golden LEAF awarded a total $8.5 million across the 11 counties in the Piedmont-Triad Prosperity Zone, for 13 projects that support agriculture, job creation and economic investment, and workforce preparedness. The awards are part of Golden LEAF’s Community-Based Grants Initiative program.
Photo Courtesy of Freeman Wood Crafters – A student in the Carpentry: Core Skills course at Rockingham Community College takes a measurement before using a table saw during a class project. A collaboration of RCC, Rockingham County Schools, and Rockingham County Economic Development known as LevelUp Rockingham will provide career exploration opportunities in middles school, and a smooth pathways in Construction Trades, Healthcare, and Advanced Manufacturing for high school students to follow through college.
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