Idaho Business for Education visits county

Representatives from the organization Idaho Business for Education visited Caribou County last week to meet with local business leaders and officials.  Bayer is a member, and Kaylee Peck arranged for the Leadership team of Dr. Paula Kellerer, Carolyn Holly, Leslie Barbour, and Dr. Megan Simila to host an hour long session at Enders Hotel in downtown Soda Springs.

The event featured an explanation of the group’s mission and plans for the future, along with a legislative report on this year’s session in terms of education from Representative Mike Veile, and a report from intern and student Lynlee Dilworth.

IBE is a group that promotes connections between businesses and students throughout the state, in a specific attempt to develop an education system that “results in graduates who have post-secondary credentials and who are workforce ready.”

One of IBE’s points of focus is on working with both businesses and school districts, as well as the legislature, to provide students with the kind of practical, on-site instruction that can be of matchless value to students as they prepare to enter into the workforce.

Internships serve a number of critical purposes for students, providing them an opportunity to explore job fields prior to fully committing to college or technical programs, and allowing them to establish network footholds within the areas of interest they may wish to pursue.

Lynlee Dilworth is a senior at SSHS who is currently involved in an internship in the health care field, which will result in out-the-door workplace credentials following graduation.  Regardless of what she ultimately pursues, Dilworth said that the experience has been incredibly helpful. 

Representative Mike Veile spoke to the group about some of the bills that came before the legislature this year, and what impact he expects them to have over the next year and further.  One of the central points Veile made about the overall experience was that there was often a tension between tax cuts and reductions in necessary funding that need to be made to account for them in low or negative revenue times.  

Protections for education in the budget can only be kept in place so long as there is not an overriding need to free funds for issues considered even more urgent, as to some extent happened this session.

Veile discussed some of the bills he voted for, and some he voted against, along with his reasoning for doing so.  Veile’s legislative updates over the past three months have provided a good accounting of those decisions, and readers are directed to them for a detailed explanation of Veile’s votes this year.

Dilworth then spoke to the audience about her internship in Longterm care.  She earned a CNA at the age of 16, and was looking for a way to gain work experience while finishing school.  “It’s been an amazing experience,” she said.  She explained the skills she has learned, and demonstrated a high-level knowledge of what it takes to succeed in the healthcare world.

CMC’s Dillon Liechty noted that “everyone who goes into the medical field to become a CNA is right away at the center of the medical world.”

To end the afternoon, Carolyn Holly noted that in Caribou County, there are 80 students enrolled in an internship or related program, and on average 94% of them complete the program, which is well above state average. 

IBE is a non-partisan organization.