THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 22, 1995 TAG: 9509220489
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATE HUNGER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
In a fledgling effort to learn more about each other's needs, city business leaders and educators traded ideas Thursday night on how to equip students for the realities of a rapidly changing workplace.
During the hourlong forum at Oscar F. Smith High School, the six panelists focused on who should bear the primary responsibility - schools or parents - for instilling the work ethic in young people.
Panelist Molly Malloy, Silver Springs Country Club co-owner and general manager, said teachers should use their position of respect to help students see the importance of job-search etiquette and responsibility, qualities she said she has found lacking in some high school-age employees.
``We have people coming in for job interviews in T-shirts with their friends tagging along,'' said Malloy, who estimates Silver Springs employs 15 high school or college-age students.
Yet anyone expecting educators to teach such qualities in addition to academics, Chesapeake schools Superintendent W. Randolph Nichols said, is in for disappointment.
``If the community gives us that responsibility, we will fail,'' he said. ``That is not our primary charge.''
Joann Chertoff, PTA president at Greenbrier Intermediate School and mother of two children in the Chesapeake school system, was one of about 30 people who attended the forum sponsored by the education committee of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce-Chesapeake division.
Parents, Chertoff said, must also share in shaping their children's journey from student to employee.
``They can't automatically depend on the schools to do it all,'' she said. ``The schools cannot do it by themselves.''
Moderator Shirley H. Forbes, chairwoman of the education committee, asked what qualities young job applicants need. Panelist Betsy Duke, president of the Bank of Tidewater, responded that she looks for people who are articulate, write well and have basic math skills. The other key ingredient, she says, is enthusiasm.
``Given those skills, I can take almost anybody and teach them the banking part,'' she said.
But several panelists noted that preparing students for life after high school must include vocational training as well as college preparatory programs.
The third business panelist, John Cali, vice president of administration for Sumitomo Corp., said the manufacturing industry needs skilled technical workers.
Education panelist Maury Brickhouse, chairman of the School Board, agreed with Cali, adding that the schools must ``do a much better job connecting with the industrial community in Chesapeake and the business community.''
But Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward, the third education panelist, said businesses, too, have responsibilities to students. They must create a work environment, he said, that encourages understanding of cultural differences.
``If we are going to be key players in the global community,'' said Ward, a history professor at Norfolk State University, ``then we need to be aware of the global cultures. Our students need to be more aware of the skills needed to compete in the global economy.''
KEYWORDS: JOB SKILLS EDUCATION by CNB