Momentum created during the inaugural Butler County Education Summit nearly a year ago is continuing to bring educators, employers and other resource partners together to discuss their respective challenges.

The summit, hosted by the United Way of Butler County in partnership with XTO Energy, provided a forum for all segments of the community to learn about one another and how they impact the work force.

Along with increased awareness of issues, the program provided a jolt to the United Way’s Education Impact Council.

The group held several meetings throughout the course of last school year and is now gearing up for this school year, according to Kierston Hobaugh, who heads up the committee for the United Way. She is the agency’s director of results and performance.

On the education side, Hobaugh said the committee includes representatives from most of the public school districts in the county, as well as officials from the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School, Butler County Community College, Slippery Rock University, early childhood education programs and after-school care programs.

Employers from a number of sectors, including manufacturing, health care, technology and finance, have come to the table, and officials from Butler County and the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board also are involved, she said.

“The thought was we would find ways to integrate real-life projects and problems from the involved businesses and industries into the classroom lessons as project-based learning,” she said.

“A lot of the time, we’re talking about the same thing but speaking two different languages.”

One program the committee has been developing to help bridge that communication gap could be an in-service day during which teachers would learn more about what businesses and industries do through tours and training.

“That way the kids know they’re actually making a difference, but they’re also being exposed to possible careers and what happens in the plant or the building they drive by every day,” Hobaugh said.

She added an additional benefit of such collaboration is career awareness and learning the types of education required to enter various careers.

Stacey Burk, program development coordinator for the vo-tech and a member of the impact council, said the partnership between employers and educators is heading in the right direction.

However, she said collaboration between educators is key, too.

For example, the vo-tech and BC3 have been successful collaborators for years, and they teamed up this fall to launch a welding course.

Employers had been calling for a welding program, and with increased demand for the skill created by the shale gas industry, those talks bore fruit. The result is a noncredit certificate-level program for adults offered by BC3 through the use of the vo-tech’s welding lab.

Neil Ashbaugh, chairman of the Butler County Manufacturing Consortium, said the summit expanded the network of organizations that want to promote manufacturing careers because they realized the field supports many jobs locally.

A training and talent development specialist for Oberg Industries in Buffalo Township, Ashbaugh said manufacturers have traditionally supported their own programs. For example, Oberg offers a number of precision machining apprenticeships.

Oberg has extended its programs to reach into high schools through a new effort it calls Junior Apprenticeship Advantage, which provides students lessons they can access online that are followed by hands-on exercises.

Penn United Technologies in Jefferson Township, another member of the manufacturing consortium, last year started a similar program called Students Acquiring Technical Skills.

Butler and Knoch high schools offered the program to students last school year, and a few other school districts were set to offer the program this school year, according to Scott Covert, training coordinator for Penn United.

Covert said many of the students in the semester-long program last year were seniors planning to study engineering in college. However, he said the curriculum covered was similar to what a first-year apprentice would learn, providing the students skills on which they can fall back.

“One thing I’ve found through dealing with the schools is there’s a real genuine concern to get their kids employment,” said Covert, who attended the summit and continues to attend meetings.

Taking that a step further, Covert said Penn United this fall started a one-year machine operator apprenticeship that is comprised of both high school seniors and its employees.

He said the summit also helped him better understand what the schools are mandated to teach, as well as their budget restraints.

“The concept of working with high schools is nothing new,” Covert said. “But the timing seems to be right.”

Michael Leitera, superintendent of the South Butler School District, said his involvement on the impact council, as well as Knoch High School’s involvement with Penn United, has helped the district establish new goals.

One is to continue to boost students’ technology skills by using computers and mobile devices in the classroom.

Another is to continue to grow the partnership with Penn United. Knoch High School Principal Todd Trofimuk said enrollment is up from seven to 12 students, and the program is now offered during the day.

Leitera said the school board has been supportive.

It authorized the creation of a new district position, career and intervention counselor, who now works with all grades on career and education awareness.