CROSSETT -- Since no student is the same as another, and each has a different path and goal in life, the Forward Arkansas initiative is framing its educational push in the state around that thought.
The organization, backed by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education, announced Friday in Crossett that the south Arkansas town is one of five communities selected to benefit from the initiative.
The others are Marianna, Pea Ridge, Springdale and Batesville.
The question of what exactly the initiative will offer those communities will be answered differently depending on the community asked. That's because it will look different in each town, said Cory Biggs, Forward Arkansas' associate director.
While details are still being worked out, the idea is to offer programs and best practices to public school systems with a high level of involvement from parents, businesses and the community at large to determine what the children there need.
In Crossett, that may come in the form of workforce education and skill training, while in Marianna it could be something completely different, Biggs said.
"We wanted to have a cohort of communities that represented the geographic and cultural diversity of our state," Biggs said. "We envision this being a process where good ideas and progress in one part of the state can be shared with the other parts and vice versa. ... It's going to look different in every place. Each of these communities is unique and we want it to be something that is created by the community and driven by the community."
Biggs and Kenneth Jones, Forward Arkansas' communities liaison, will work with a group of city leaders and community members in each chosen town to discuss what the residents want for their town's future, related to students and education.
The two will present options and best practices -- possibly in the form of programs from other states or school districts -- but it will be up to each community to decide what is best, Jones said.
"We aren't going to dictate anything. We're going to present a menu, support them with collaborative methodology that allows the community to come together and reach a consensus on how to move forward, how they will evaluate that, how to make a decision to change or modify what they are doing -- but all in the service of education and their students," he said.
When business leaders, community service providers and school officials in Crossett are asked what they want Forward Arkansas to accomplish in their town, there's a clear consensus: job skills that will boost the local economy and make students want to return to their hometown after college.
"I think a lot of our students think we are just down here in south Arkansas and that no one notices us. They hear all the negative, that we are an economically repressed area. They strive to be known as something other than that. This will be a shot in the arm to get them excited. We're not just saying [there will be more opportunity], but we are putting money behind the words," said India Holt, owner of the local Chevrolet dealership.
Holt served on the 28-person steering committee of Forward Arkansas that came up with its action plan and report. She has three children in the Crossett School District.
Mike Smith, executive director of Crossett's Economic Development Foundation, pointed out that only about 11 percent of people in his county have a college education.
"We are hoping we can close that achievement gap and get our county on par with the rest of the state, raise the per capita income, provide the kind of workforce our businesses and industries in Crossett and Ashley County need, and provide the kinds of occupations that will interest these students to come back here after college," Smith said.
Over the past five years, 77 percent to 80 percent of Crossett High School seniors have graduated. Superintendent Gary Williams said he didn't know offhand Friday how many of those went on to college, but he said it's important that the city not fail those who don't.
"We truly want to provide pathways to all students. We've got great [advanced placement] programs designed to make those who do go into college more prepared, but we need to do more to prepare those kids who are not college bound. We've got to embrace all those pathways. That's been recognized nationally, statewide and now locally," Williams said.
Forward Arkansas will be working in Crossett and the other four selected communities over the next few years. The nonprofit made the Crossett announcement at the high school's homecoming pep rally Friday.
Similar announcements will be made in Marianna Oct. 14, Pea Ridge and Springdale on Oct. 19, and in Batesville Oct. 20.
Forward Arkansas Director Susan Harriman has said the project's goal is that "every child in Arkansas [will] graduate prepared for the workforce or college and thrive in our society."
"We want to transform Arkansas into one of the top, leading states in the country in education. ... We want to flip the statistics," she said in a recent interview. "It's a very bold goal, but it's achievable. We just have to believe in ourselves and we can do it. That's one of the barriers."
Metro on 10/08/2016