Photo by Taylor Bott

A team from Artesia and Lovington, New Mexico, meet at Goose Creek CISD’s Stuart Career Center to learn about the district’s Adopt-a-School program with Covestro and Austin Industrial. Pictured are (front, from left) Renea Dillon, director of Career and Technical Education; Al White, Austin Industrial maintenance superintendent; Jeff Baird, Austin Industrial site manager, Navajo Refineries – Artesia, New Mexico; Donnie McCoy, Austin Industrial senior operations manager; Debbie Bell, The HollyFrontier Co. community affairs; Jesse Provost, Goose Creek graduate and former Intern; Miles Mitchell, Artesia High School Agricultural Science teacher; (back, from left) Rick Guzman, Austin Industrial safety manager; George Velasquez, Goose Creek graduate and former intern; Lloyd Johnson, Covestro maintenance manager Nick Perez, Goose Creek graduate and former intern; Mark McAlister, Artesia High School assistant principal; Eric Greer, Artesia High School principal and Mike Riojas, Stuart Career Center assistant principal.

A team from Artesia and Lovington, New Mexico, recently visited the Goose Creek CISD to learn from its Adopt-a-School program with Covestro and Austin Industrial. The team, including Eric Greer, principal of Artesia High School; Mark McAlister, assistant principal; Miles Mitchell, AFNR teacher from Artesia HS; Debbie Bell, community affairs, The HollyFrontier Companies along with Jeff Baird, CMRP, CCMP Site Manager at Austin Industrial’s Navajo Refineries-Artesia, spent two days in Baytown learning more about the model program.

The first day focused on the school district perspective of the partnership. Renea Dillon, director of career and technical education, and Donnie McCoy, operations manager at Austin Industrial, shared a presentation with the team in the Board Room of the Administration Building. This was followed by a tour of the Ross S. Sterling High School Agriculture Mechanics and Construction Technology Labs, hosted by Ken Rogers, Lawrence Richard, and Jeff Strobl. The group then met with John Membreno, welding teacher, and toured the Stuart Career Center facility.

The second day provided information from the industry perspective, and the group met at SCC. Lloyd Johnson, maintenance manager at Covestro; Al White, maintenance superintendent and Rick Guzman, safety manager, discussed their roles in making the partnership successful. They also brought George Velasquez, Jesse Provost and Nick Perez, three former Adopt-a-School interns who are now permanently employed by Covestro. These young men shared their perspectives on learning in high school, the mentoring that occurred during their internship and their continued success at Covestro.

“Thank you for the excellent presentation and hospitality last week. You and your team made us feel very welcome,” said Baird. “The future Artesia Partnership found all aspects very beneficial. Your team’s passion is infectious and is a reflection of excellent leadership.”

This site visit was coordinated through Jennifer Jacobs, GCCISD’s Student Workforce Connection Liaison. The purpose of the Student Workforce Connection is to connect GCCISD students with employment in local business and industry.

The Adopt-A-School program with Goose Creek CISD, Austin Industrial, and Covestro began in August of 2011. Over the course of five years, the partnership has conducted demonstrations in the classrooms of skills from scaffolding to reading ISO drawings to welding techniques. Austin Industrial has conducted annual safety inspections in each of the Agriculture Mechanics, Construction Technology, and Welding labs in the district, which has led to many improvements in the district. The team also partners on many career development events, such as information sessions on high demand, high wage careers in the construction and manufacturing industry, resume writing and interview skills. The partnership culminates in a one-year internship at Covestro for up to three graduates annually. Of the 11 interns who have completed their internship at Covestro, eight remain employed either by Austin Industrial or Covestro.

As a best practice, information on this Adopt-a-School Partnership has been featured in presentations at the Region IV Career & Technical Education Conference in November of 2015, at the Texas Career Education Conference in February 2014 and at the National Career Clusters Institute in Phoenix, AZ in June 2014.

“As a result of this partnership and several others with surrounding districts, Donnie McCoy was nominated as the Business Leader of the Year by the Gulf Coast Career and Technical Education Organization and Recognized by the Career & Technology Association of Texas in the spring of 2013,” said Dillon.