More than 55 educators from the Bristol Tennessee City Schools and other local entities were paired with 18 industries on February 16 to learn the educational requirements for job positions in our community. The event began with a breakfast where Bristol Tennessee Essential Services’ (BTES) CEO Dr. Mike Browder welcomed attendees in the Technical Education Complex at Northeast State Community College.
“Teacher Industry Day began as a way to promote economic development and career development in our community,” said Browder. “Each year, we start the day with a brief program for our participating teachers and industries and then each teacher is paired with an industry in our community. The teacher spends the day with leaders at that organization – touring their facility, discussing career opportunities and, ultimately, learning what skills are needed to work at that company.”
More than 700 educators have participated in the program over the past 25 years. The goal of the day is for the educators to take what they learn back to their classrooms and help their students become more prepared to enter the workforce in the local area.
BTES received international recognition for this program from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in 2019. IEDC's Excellence in Economic Development Awards recognizes the world's best economic development programs and partnerships.
“We wholeheartedly appreciate BTES and all the businesses that support Teacher Industry Day,” said Deidre Pendley, CTE director for BTCS. “This event gives our educators a unique opportunity to visit local employers and learn more about the job opportunities that exist for Tennessee High School work-based learning, pre-apprenticeship, and graduating students. Being able to collaborate with professionals in the participating industries and understand the workforce needs, teachers are better able to connect what students are learning in our classrooms with real-world applications.”
Participating industries include Bell Helicopter, Bristol Tennessee Police Department, Bristol Tennessee Fire Department, BTES, City of Bristol Tennessee, H Johnson Pharmacy, Integrated Health, Mattern & Craig, Microporous, Modern Forge, Royal Building Products, Seaman Corporation, Tech Eagles, Teleperformance, The Robinette Company, Tri-City Extrusion, USAntibiotics, and Wallace Collision Center.
“We are so excited to host Teacher Industry Day this year in our Technical Education Complex at Northeast State Community College,” said Dr. Donna Farrell, Dean of Technologies at Northeast State Community College. “Being able to showcase our state-of-the-art facility helps educators and business leaders in our community see the opportunities available to our students and opens the doors for future partnerships.”
BTES and the Tennessee Valley Authority have sponsored the day since its inception.