Education and community leaders comprise the Ouachita Business Alliance Education Leadership Team.
Education chair Dr. Nick Bruno and co-chair Janet Durden lead in mapping out objectives to highlight excellence in area programs for new residents moving to the parish. "There is a need for a broader level of information," says Durden. The team has identified five items to promote through the alliance group.
According to Durden, there's an interest in more elementary summer enrichment programs. Beyond that, she says programs of excellence all the way through K-16 are in need of being promoted.
"It's amazing when you look deeper into school systems. There is an award-winning debate team, a magnet school about STEM education, a well-developed legal courtroom system in some of our schools," she said.
The team is working towards making residents moving to the area more aware of such programs. "They look for those courses embedded in arts, sciences, or academics, that may not be widely known," said Bruno. Some schools have created promotional videos sharing such opportunities that can be viewed online.
Bruno says he's hopeful that students who connect with local schools will learn more about opportunities at area colleges and universities. "We're going to need alot of the professions that we train now. We cannot train enough people to meet the market demand."
