Experts: Younger, less-educated workforce can be powerhouse

LYNN – Top local educators and workforce experts unveiled a “cradle to career” plan Tuesday aimed at turning Lynn?s relatively young and under-educated workforce into an economic powerhouse.The plan, outlined during a morning forum at the Porthole Pub, harnesses a well-rounded public education program with “early college” – a way for high school students to cut down on higher-education costs.North Shore Community College President Patricia Gentile outlined this “high school degree plus three” concept to 50 local business people and public officials Wednesday with help from North Shore Workforce Investment Board Executive Director Mary Sarris and Lynn School Superintendent Catherine Latham.Citing U.S. Census Bureau statistics, Sarris said 17 percent of Lynn employees are 16 to 24 years old compared to 14 percent in the same age group statewide. The percentage of local residents without a high school degree is higher than the number statewide, according to Census statistics.Gentile and Sarris said workers need more skills and more ability to take on new tasks than their predecessors. Employees who brought a mathematics-oriented or language-focused skill to a job now need to combine those abilities.?There are fewer ?pure? roles: Everyone is doing more,” Sarris said.Gentile, who started running North Shore?s three campuses in January 2014, said educators work closely with area employers and with the Workforce Investment Board to give college students an education mirroring employers? needs.?It?s the skills, the credentials to enter the workforce and, sometimes, to re-enter the workforce,” she said.Eight out of 10 North Shore Community College students hold jobs while attending school, she said, adding 30 percent need academic help transitioning from high school academics to college-level courses.?The grit and perseverance of our students is really heartwarming,” Gentile said.Latham and Gentile said students who start grasping math and reading skills as children, and then transition to science skills, are poised to mature in school and position themselves to perform in a 21st-century workforce.?If we want them to read and write, we have got to start at the age of 2 and 3: That?s what we need in a knowledge economy,” Gentile said.Latham said her job is focused, in part, on “giving students a reason to go to school.” Public school programs like “First In Math” and “Know Atom” make math and science fun and the public schools, as early as middle school, give students a chance to learn at colleges like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Endicott College.She said new Marshall and Pickering middle schools will have cooking and sewing classes and financial literacy training for students. Gentile said she is surprised by the number of North Shore students who do not know how to realistically estimate a college education?s cost. Latham agreed.?It?s amazing the number of kids who don?t know how to write a check,” she said.