Walorski visits West Central HS on 'Hoosier Education Tour'

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Published: Friday, 05 September 2014 19:53

Congresswoman stops in Francesville as part of district-wide education tour

FRANCESVILLE - As part of her ‘Hoosier Education Tour’, Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (IN-02) stopped in Francesville Wednesday (Sept. 3) to visit West Central High School.

Walorski had a chance to tour the school and speak with students and teachers about various programs the school offers students to prepare them for the future workforce.

“One of the most important ingredients as a key driver of future economic success is education. After visiting West Central High School and speaking to students and teachers, I saw firsthand the remarkable things they are doing to prepare our future workforce,” Walorski said. “In order to ensure we have a strong and growing economy, we need a pipeline of skilled workers. To achieve that, we must support policies that teach Hoosiers important skills that will translate into a job.”

Walorski visited Francesville during her two-day district tour in recognition of the 1,200 children attending high school or college in Pulaski County who will need job-ready skills in the next few years to prepare them to compete in the global workforce. Over the course of the tour, Walorski plans to visit workforce training facilities that prepare students with real-world skills necessary to obtain a job, and schools with outstanding programs in various subject areas – all to learn more about what northern Indiana is doing to ensure Hoosier children have the opportunities to become a highly skilled workers able to compete in a global economy.

“Northern Indiana has a wealth of opportunities for future generations learn to skills they’re going to need later in life to be successful in our workforce. Over the next two days, I want to find out what else I can do to help our employers, local schools and workforce training facilities make certain we’re providing every opportunity to future generations of Francesville/Medaryville to succeed.”

The stop also provided Walorski with the chance to discuss legislation she supported that shifts federal funds to local communities, allowing employment centers to partner directly with local employers, educators, and skills trainers to prepare workers to fill job openings in these communities.

The legislation, called the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), is an important step toward addressing a serious national challenge: the chronic mismatch of skills to available jobs. WIOA will help to create an effective, modern workforce training system to fill available jobs with qualified workers. The bill passed the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and is now headed to the president’s desk for signature into law.

Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (IN-02) speaks to West Central High School students and hears about their 1:1 learning initiative, which provides a computer for each student, during her ‘Hoosier Education Tour’.