MANSFIELD, PA – Mansfield University hosted the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Region 5 Career Ready PA Stakeholder Coalition Forum on Wednesday October 16.
Career Ready PA is an initiative of PDE to prepare for Pennsylvania’s economic future, which depends on a well-educated and skilled workforce that is prepared to meet the current and projected demands of a global, knowledge-based 21st century economy.
Dr. Kathy Wright, Associate Provost and Dean of Natural and Social Sciences at Mansfield University was the keynote speech at the forum. Dr. Wright discussed the many collaborations between Mansfield University’s science-based health sciences, geosciences, biology, and chemistry programs with K-12 schools, employers, and other stakeholders in the region.
“Educators from K-12 and Mansfield University were energized by the opportunity to have conversations with regional employers regarding current and future workforce needs. We’re looking forward to future opportunities to collaborate, ” Wright said. “Many of the people in attendance had no idea how many opportunities Mansfield University offers in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (STEM/CS). It was great to be able to share our programs with them. “
The forum also included panel presentations on education, community non-profit, STEM, trade and labor, workforce, employers, and PA government. The panel was headed by Brooke Beiter, BLaST IU17 and Career Ready Region 5 Liaison, and Laura Fridirici of PDE.
For more information, please visit the PDE Career Ready PA website at http://education.pa.gov/CareerReadyPA.