Missouri Gov. Mike Parson learned first-hand Monday how Poplar Bluff’s Boys and Girls Club is working to open doors for its students during his visit to Poplar Bluff.
“It was amazing to be able to host the governor of the state of Missouri today because we are on the exact same wavelength with workforce development. This is a key to not only improving our kids’ futures, but the future of this entire community,” said club Executive Director Chris Rushin.
In a presentation at the Kay Porter Theater, Rushin and Boys and Girls Club Project Manager Penny Taylor told Parson about the club’s workforce development programs while explaining how students in the region fall behind the rest of the state in some metrics.
Elementary students in Poplar Bluff, Taylor explained, surpass state averages in standardized testing, but once they reach middle school and beyond, those numbers begin to rapidly fall.
Citing 2019 data from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Taylor showed that proficiency in English and math ranged from 60.5% to 87.4% in the elementary schools, while the statewide average was 49.3%.
However, once students got to the middle school, those numbers fell to 44.6% and 45.6%.
By junior high, the averages fell further, to 37.4% for English proficiency and only 22.4% for math.
Poverty and a lack of access to positive youth development, Taylor said, are major contributors.
Additionally, Taylor told Parson, the 2021 KIDS COUNT report noted Butler County ranked 113th out of 114 counties, plus St. Louis City, for overall child wellbeing.
The Boys and Girls Club, Rushin said, is working to reverse those trends, particularly with its older students, and has several workforce development programs in place.
Examples include a seventh grade career launch program, eighth grade junior staff program, a teen entrepreneurship program and partnerships with local schools and industry.
“We want them to continue to come to club so we can continue to develop them into productive, responsible citizens,” Rushin said.
However, getting the older students motivated about their futures, and giving them the tools they need, he said, is key.
“If we can hook these kids up with the right skills and the know-how to be able to do that, they can have incredibly high paying jobs that are going to benefit the entire community,” Rushin said.
Parson agreed.
“Workforce development is such a key,” Parson said. “With these junior high and high school kids, you’ve got to find a way to get them interested.
“My goal every day is to go to work and make sure we pass that to the next generation and we make sure the kids understand how important an education is and how important a job is.”
Preparing students for the workforce of tomorrow “I think is a great focus for them to start having,” Parson said, while noting it’s time for schools, the Boys and Girls Club and others to “think outside the box” when it comes to preparing students for the future.
“The opportunities are endless if we all change our minds a little bit of how important that is,” Parson said.
Parson applauded the Boys and Girls Club and Poplar Bluff R-I School District’s partnerships with higher education institutions, such as Three Rivers College, the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce and the private work sector.
Teaming up with the private sector, Parson said, allows students to “come in and work a few hours, get paid for it and still get a little education.
“Those are the things we need.”
Parson noted he’s seeing positive signs and said Missouri is “heading in the right direction. We’re really focusing on kids and making sure they are prepared for the workforce and getting that basic education to move forward. That’s how we move the needle in this state and give them an opportunity to be winners in life.”
Parson also promised continued support for local efforts.
“There isn’t any question the Boys and Girls Club, like here in Poplar Bluff, is key to where we’re moving our young kids forward in today’s times,” he said. “We’ll do anything in our power, myself and your senator and representatives, to support workforce development and anything we can do to help educate these kids.”