For the local area to grow into a major employment hub, the St. Louis workforce will need to possess the skills of the future. That’s why organizations like Kylar.io, the Special School District of St. Louis County, Ready by 21 St. Louis, and the St. Charles County Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) are trying new training approaches that are already showing promise.

Kylar.io

From age 6 to adult, Kylar.io, trains students fundamental skills and professional experiences to create careers in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics). Its Tech Camp trains participants on Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, Mobile App & Game Development, Animation & Form Building, and Web Design & Development.

Founder & CEO Jared Arms started Kylar.io after losing several friends to gun violence as a way to bring about positive change.

Special School District of St. Louis County

The College and Career Readiness division of the Special School District of St. Louis County (SSD) operates North and South technical high schools, which offer students experiential learning opportunities in more than 30 different programs, including future-focused programs like Pharmacy Science and Health Sciences. SSD also offers adult Applied Technology classes in nursing.

SSD is preparing students for the increasing demands of the 21st century workforce to ensure that they are fully prepared for college and careers. It does so through real-world classrooms, shadowing, internships, complex projects, clinical rotations, and other immersive experiences.

Missouri Intern Connect

Missouri Intern Connect provides an easy way for Missouri students to gain career internship experience while giving employers better access to talent. It was launched by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce to support Missouri businesses struggling to find talented workers and to stem the tide of young workers leaving Missouri for opportunities elsewhere. It is supported by MU Extension — Business Development Program, Missouri Department of Higher Education, Union Pacific, and PHRMA.

Ready by 21 St. Louis

Ready by 21 St. Louis, an initiative of United Way of Greater St. Louis, is strengthening the region’s ability to support children and youth and to ensure they are career-ready by age 21. It is doing so by coordinating existing education, health and personal development resources to reduce service duplication and increase the impact of dollars invested in community services.

St. Charles County Center for Advanced Professional Studies

The St. Charles County Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) provides top students from all 13 public high schools in St. Charles County with a profession-based learning curriculum. Students are immersed in a professional culture, solving real world problems, using industry standard tools and are mentored by employers, while receiving high school and college credit.

It is an example of how business, community and public education can partner to produce personalized learning experiences to educate the workforce of tomorrow, particularly in high skill, high demand jobs in healthcare, global business/entrepreneurship, and technology solutions (IT or creative media).

Learn more about these training programs when I facilitate a panel with leaders from each organization at Venture Café, 4240 Duncan Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, June 27 from 6:30-7:30 pm.

Panelists include Jared Arms of Kylar.io; David Baker of the Special School District of St. Louis County; Kelly Dyer, Missouri Intern Connect; Katie Kaufmann of Ready by 21 St. Louis; and Nicole Whitesell of the St. Charles County Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS).