Elevating Education: Why College, Career and Civic Readiness is Good for Economic Development

By Jvanna Hanks, Deputy Superintendent, Gallup McKinley County Schools

Gallup McKinley County Schools (GMCS), in collaboration with our students, parents, staff and community stakeholders, created and refined the Elevate 2025
Strategic Plan with the goals of increasing student success and strengthening academic achievement, creating career pathways, empowering and developing our employees, and strengthening our partnerships to help support our students. High School Graduation is a tremendous milestone in a student’s life, and we want to be sure our students are graduating ready to compete in a global economy. Elevating Education means providing additional opportunities for our students through targeted programs and work-based learning activities. 

Through the McKinley Academy program almost five hundred high school students across McKinley County can graduate with an associate degree as well as a high school diploma. These students are learning the environmental differences between college-level and high school level courses while having the support of their parents, teachers, counselors, and principals. Students who graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree (or more) will save their families thousands of dollars. 

Our Career Pathways provide students the opportunity to have hands-on learning in multiple technical skills and trades. Students in Middle School start exploring career options while learning employability skills. As students transition to high school, they will choose to become enrolled in one of our Schools Of: Engineering, Health, Media, Business, Manufacturing and Technology. Our students in our Civics programming can learn more about career options like Fire Fighting, EMS, Police, or Military. GMCS understands that students have multiple goals and aspirations and provide multiple pathways for success, and our students can guide their educational journey. 

Students are gaining practical skills, knowledge and experience that will make them top quality candidates for various industries and educational opportunities. When a business looks at our communities, we want them to know that they can feel comfortable investing in our area due to our competitive and skilled workforce. Students are also gaining the confidence to seek out opportunities to help them achieve their life goals, including gaining local employment which can reduce our unemployment rates. Students are seeing industries and opportunities that are missing from our communities, encouraging them to be innovative and entrepreneurial. GMCS paid student internships in local businesses, organizations and government partners helps them to learn many hands-on skills as well as lifelong learning skills including problem solving, customer service skills, dependability, independence and accountability. 

Together, GMCS, Higher Education, local industry and other community partners can help to support our next generation of leaders to grow and support our communities. We must continue to work together to ensure there is a trained and skilled workforce and that those individuals also have living wage employment opportunities in the communities they serve. By aligning educational programs with the needs of local industries, GMCS will continue to support the growth of industry within our communities. If you have internship opportunities for our students, please use the QR Code to learn more about the internship program.