It’s easy to talk the talk, and perhaps a little harder to walk the walk, but that is exactly what Washington County, Florida Superintendent of Schools Joe Taylor, School Board Member Cheryl Williams and Chipley City Councilman Tommy Sasser did this week in support of Career and Technical Education.
Taylor visited Studio B on the campus of Florida Panhandle Technical College to get a new head shot portrait on Monday, July 3, 2023, as seen (below) and while there, had the opportunity to discuss the upcoming 2023-2024 FPTC school year, including the brand-new Television Production Technology Program, with Instructor Paul Goulding.
Career and Technical Education, or CTE, is a term you might hear a lot lately, as we expound on the value of a career versus huge school debt, when comparing a technical education and job-ready work skills to traditional four-year college.
Enrollment can always be better, but, as Goulding explained, Florida Panhandle Technical College has seen an increase in enrollment for his Video Technology and Television Production programs for the Fall 2023 Semester, resulting in an increased need for software and certification fees in Goulding’s programs.
Goulding and his fellow FPTC Instructors have been admonished that their students will benefit from alternate funding sources for their respective programs, along with cutting overall program costs.
Due to the cutting-edge technologies found in Goulding’s programs specifically, there are no textbooks available to cover the program content, and the course study relies heavily on the annually renewable Adobe suite of software programs for the students to achieve industry certifications, graduate and become job ready.
Goulding’s programs are among the most volatile- changing and improving rapidly- and benefitting from the newest cutting-edge technologies, including artificial Intelligence, highly touted over the past six months and an integral part of these software programs, so again, the importance and significance of these programs is underscored.
‘If we do not come up to speed, and stay abreast of the latest developments, our students will not be prepared to enter the technical workforce upon graduation’, says Goulding.
In a planning session at FPTC, Goulding ran his idea of petitioning the public for assistance in funding his software and certification testing fee needs past FPTC Administration, and all staff and management were behind the effort.
Contacting public figures, Goulding explained that the technical college is experiencing a shortfall in funding, with several less-than-painless changes in procedures, presenting challenges to students and educators alike.
When hearing of the need, Washington County School Board member Cheryl Williams immediately offered to purchase multiple copies of the software, as did Chipley, Florida City Councilman Tommy Sasser.
‘This is an example of our community truly supporting students and education’, says Goulding, ‘and fortunately we have businesspeople in this community who see the value of the over 30 certification programs offered here at Florida Panhandle Technical College’.
‘We have had positive response from others in the community’, says Goulding, ‘and we look forward to additional contributions to help fund these needs. There is always room for more participation, and costs will not be going down any time soon. We are reaching out to Constitutional Officers and other elected officials to participate, along with business owners and other members of the community’.
There are also other ways in which to become involved in helping the educational efforts of FPTC, including donations to the Foundation, and any interested parties can contact the school for more information.
Last school year, Goulding decided to gain even more value from the exercise, so he included discussion and study of this fundraising effort in the ‘Marketing 101’ component of his courses, illustrating to his students how to successfully fund a project without asking for a handout, and instead quantifying the value of the investment and offering real value in exchange.
‘Corporate, small business, personal and organizational partnerships are extremely important to our efforts at the technical college’, says Goulding, ‘and by asking our community partners to tell us what skills they are seeking in a potential employee, we can better train those future employees and ensure they are truly job-ready’.
FPTC Registrar Belinda Collins advises that the registration window closes in early September 2023, and interested high school students should make an effort to discuss FPTC course study with their Guidance Counselors or simply come by the college to discover their options for dual enrollment in one of over 30 certification programs, all offered at no cost to high school Juniors and Seniors, 16 years of age, with at least a 2.0 grade point average.
For more information, visit the FPTC campus at 757 Hoyt Street in downtown Chipley, Florida, give a call at 850-638-1180 Extension 6317, or visit the website www.FPTC.edu.
