Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Bridging the gap between education and business and industry to strengthen the nation's future workforce is the topic of a Jackson workshop Monday [Feb. 27].
Kerri Briggs, senior policy adviser for the U.S. Department of Education, will keynote the 8 a.m.-3 p.m. event. She will speak during a 12:30-2 p.m. luncheon session in Windsor Rooms I and II of the Marriott Downtown Jackson.
Titled "Building Industry and Education Partnerships Summit 2006," the workshop is sponsored by Mississippi State's Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology. Sandra Harpole, the university's associate vice president for research, is center director.
"The workshop will bring together leaders in business, industry, education and government to discuss the importance of building partnerships between industry and education to educate tomorrow's workforce," said Harpole.
"They will share their thoughts on the importance of bridging the gap between their respective areas to better prepare a national workforce designed to advance the economy of the nation," she added.
Other speakers during the morning include Mississippi Department of Education officials James Sardin and Judy Couey; Kwame Harris of Ruleville Central High School; James Ivy, director of training for Northrop Grumman Ship Systems; and Imogene Fortenberry and Carolyn Cadney, both of Biloxi High School.
Two roundtable discussions during the day will focus on the importance of industry and education partnerships, from 11:25-12:15 p.m.; and the necessary components of sustaining or maintaining those partnerships, from 2-2:55 p.m.
For more information, contact Georgia Hackney (662) 325-9679 or gsh11@csmt.msstate.edu.