Educators spend a great deal of time and energy preparing their students for post-secondary studies.

Ultimately, however, these students will have to get a job, and local school systems are trying to prepare them for the 21st century work force.

"This K-12 journey that these students are on has one destination. That's work," said Michael Canady, the Columbia County school system's director of career and technology education. "What are we doing to prepare them for that?"

Working together

Local schools have developed partnerships with industries to expose students to the workplace.

John Deere Commercial Products has "adopted" the agricultural programs at Evans, Greenbrier and Harlem high schools by giving students real-world experience. R.W. Allen & Associates, which is building Grovetown High School on Chamblin Road, recently adopted the construction programs at Evans and Harlem.

Richmond County schools also have established alliances with businesses.

"With some of our programs, we have on-the-job training opportunities for our students," said Nanette Barnes, the county's director of career, technical and agricultural education.

A state Department of Education grant has allowed Richmond County schools to set up a youth apprenticeship program.

"A student has to be enrolled in a career technical class that is related to the apprenticeship that they're doing," Ms. Barnes said.

Barbara Smoak, the manager of outreach education programs at Savannah River Site, oversees school-to-work programs for students in Richmond, Columbia, Aiken, Allendale, Barnwell and Bamberg counties. These initiatives include SRS internships, job shadowing, competitions and special events. The programs also encourage students to pursue studies in science, math, engineering and technology.

"Our goal is to get them interested and see the applications at the site in the workplace," Ms. Smoak said.

Jeff Jay, SRS's international nuclear proliferation program manager and the educational vice chairman for Junior Achievement of Georgia Inc.'s Augusta Division, would like to take their efforts a step further.

He would like to hold a business education summit with industry, community and education leaders in Richmond, Columbia, Aiken and Edgefield counties to "figure out what we do well, where the gaps are and how to fill those gaps."

Mr. Jay also serves as a member of the engineering advisory board for A.R. Johnson Health Science Engineering Magnet High School. He said he is trying to develop a plan to send those students to college, mentor them throughout their education and bring them back to work in the community.

"To create that kind of scenario, it takes a long-term investment of at least 20-plus years," Mr. Jay said.

Job prospects

Educators and business people agree on the types of jobs that will be available in the next two decades.

"Everybody's estimating that the growth in jobs will be in technical jobs," said Laurie Cook, Junior Achievement's executive director for its Augusta district.

She said studies indicate there will be no job growth for people without a high school diploma. The studies also predict an 80 percent increase in jobs for graduates with a two-year degree and a 33 percent shortfall in jobs that require a four-year degree.

Ted McLyman, a Waddell & Reed Financial Advisors district manager who works with Junior Achievement, said community leaders are debating whether education should emphasize two-year or four-year degrees.

"Augusta is changing rapidly," he said, and many of the changes have been technology-driven.

In the past 50 years, and particularly in the past 10 to 15 years, he said, the area has changed from an agrarian, mill and light retail economy to a knowledge-based economy.

"Typically, 70 to 80 percent of job growth comes from existing industries. We think we will continue to see growth in the companies that are already here," said Zack Daffin, the Columbia County Development Authority's executive director.

He said he expects jobs to be created in the medical community, the service and retail industries and call center operations.

"A lot of those call centers require a higher level of training, and they target employees that have the ability to learn technical skills," Mr. Daffin said.

Columbia County's major manufacturers -- John Deere, Club Car Inc., GIW and Kennametal Inc. -- have said they have a workplace shortage, said Chris Baum, the county chamber of commerce's director of programs.

Shortfalls are expected in other areas. A 2007 American Nuclear Society report estimates that almost one-third of the current nuclear work force will retire in the next 10 years. Many jobs in this field could open in the Augusta area, however.

The construction of a MOX plant at SRS, where weapons-grade plutonium will be converted into usable energy, could create about 800 jobs when it is completed in 2014, Mr. Daffin said.

He said hundreds of jobs also could be created by Southern Co. if it expands its nuclear facility at Plant Vogtle, and a new National Security Agency facility at Fort Gordon could create thousands of jobs when it is completed in 2010. Mr. Daffin also said the authority is trying to lure industries to the region in the life science, plastics and automotive fields.

In-house efforts

"The average kid coming out of high school right now is going to have five or six career changes in their life. Some of the careers haven't been invented yet," Mr. McLyman said.

Schools can prepare students for yet-to-be-created jobs by teaching them to think and to solve problems, Mr. Canady said.

The Columbia County school system also has focused on its career-pathways instructors. These teachers, who often have experience in the courses they teach, have undergone 10 hours of professional training this year to help them teach the skills employers need.

The Aiken County Career and Technology Center offers work-based learning classes in 12 vocational areas in the county's seven high schools.

"You need to be able to apply the things that you learn," said Patrick O'Neill, the center's director and the school system's career and technology director.

Schools have made other efforts that are designed to educate students and parents outside the classroom.

For example, Lakeside Middle School recently held a career fair for pupils. Though educators don't talk with younger pupils the same way they approach high school students, Mr. Canady said, "We start making them aware that we don't all grow up to be policemen and doctors."

In February, the Columbia County chamber and Junior Achievement sponsored a career fair at Evans High School that was geared toward vocational occupations in the community.

"We're trying to do a better job educating the family on what opportunities are out there," Mr. Canady said.

Mr. O'Neill said it is hard to convince parents that technical programs offer viable career options to their children.

However, he said, the school's health science class would benefit college-bound students who want to go into the medical field as much as it would benefit vocational students.

"There's still that stigma that students who are taking career and technology classes are the lowest of the low," he said.

Reach Betsy Gilliland at (706) 868-1222, ext. 113, or betsy.gilliland@augustachronicle.com.