Stafford County Public Schools thanks its business partners during a breakfast meeting.
About 100 people gathered at Ebeneezer United Methodist Church, 161 Embrey Mill Road. Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor thanked business owners for involvement in the school division’s career and technical education program.
Taylor reminded attendees the government school division is the only one in Virginia partnered with the IRS to allow students to provide tax help to residents. He also highlighted its partnership with the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank’s Food Locker system, which allows residents to call ahead and order food.
Dr. David Eshelman, director of the division’s CTE program for the past seven months, said the division had issued more than 22,400 career and technical assignments to its 31,000 students, with just over 10% completing the courses, meeting the state minimum for the program.
The school division has been working with business owners on expanding the number of career training programs, mentorships, internships, and apprenticeships for students. “We can’t sit in a traditional classroom and meet the workforce demands of tomorrow’s marketplace,” said Eshelman.
Jordan McDaniel, marketing director for Hilldrup Movers in Stafford County, was one of two keynote speakers. The 120-year-old company near Quantico employs 300 people and has partnered with the school division on supply, coat, and meal drives.
It has also trained a student in the company’s auto mechanic shop, providing the student with an externship.
Matthew Meyer, a senior at Stafford High School, said his experience working in drafting, and designing plans for a church sanctuary that will soon be built, has led to him being accepted at multiple schools, including UVA.
In the meantime, Meyer said he’d be taking a job with a drafting firm that has asked him to help it switch from a 2-D to a 3-D design process. Meyer said he’d consider a career in civil engineering.
More photos taken by the school division photographer are available here.
Two work-based learning students from Stafford County Public Schools completed a 60-hour internship with this news organization. The students learned about digital publishing processes and systems and local government entities in Northern Virginia.
PLN regularly accepts applications for interns. Interested individuals should apply here.
