Man saying goodbye to school board, but not education
Emergency funds might be needed
September 3, 2002
Man saying goodbye to school board, but not education
After many faithful years of service on the Elizabethtown Independent school board, Bob Harris is moving on to other things, but is maintaining an active role in education.
"Education is in my blood," Harris said. "It's not something I could divorce."
Harris has decided not to seek another term on the school board after 12 with the Elizabethtown Independent school district. Harris said he is proud of the work he and the other members have done over the last decade, particularly the way the group functioned, but thought it was time to step down.
"He always wanted to do his job to the fullest," said Paul Upchurch, superintendent of Elizabethtown Independent Schools.
Harris will continue to teach mathematics at Elizabethtown Community College, where he has been for 24 years. He is researching student learning styles in mathematics, and hopes to learn teaching techniques that will complement all different types of learning styles.
"A lot of people don't want to be in math class," Harris said. "I think I can structure things so they can do well and maybe even like it."
He wants to create software that helps him accomplish his goal.
Harris plans to work another three to five years at ECC before retiring. He then might try to do something entrepreneurial-based in education.
"There is only so many things I can do," Harris said. "I want to be able to do everything to the best of my ability."
September 3, 2002
While many workers are back on the job after a day that celebrates their labors, hundreds of others are preparing to go back to school.
Federal training funds are helping laid off workers retool their skills for a new career.
As a result, the $2 million annual budget for training funds in the Barren River Area Development District is running low.
“We may have to apply for some emergency funding,” said George Leamon, director of Workforce Investment Board for the BRADD.
“It is an exceptionally busy year for us – the bulk of the work is from Sumitomo,” Leamon said. “We are trying to get as many people seen as we can, but not everyone can get in school now. It’s not because of the money, but because of the hoops you have to jump through.
“It’s a rough road right now for a lot of folks.”
The office also has provided some help for residents outside of the district impacted by the impending closure of Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems in Morgantown.
“Some of those workers live in other counties,” Leamon said.
In all, 700 workers in Morgantown will lose their jobs. About 100 of them are going to school, thanks to the training funds. Many others are going back to school using funds from the Trade Adjustment Act. Those funds are used when the job loss was directly attributed to trade agreements.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 1,200 people in the BRADD region have received some form of assistance from the Rapid Response Team, according to Coordinator Tonya Mudd.
The team goes into facilities that are eliminating a large percentage of their work force and provides employees with information about all the services that are available to them.
“We kid them about overloading them with information,” Mudd said. “There are a lot of things available to them they might not even know about.”
In addition to the training funds, there may be money from vocational rehabilitation for other training, they could qualify for services at the health department and information is provided about unemployment benefits.
In addition to Sumitomo employees, both in Morgantown and in Edmonton, where 200 jobs are being eliminated, services have been provided to about 150 people at A.O. Smith in Scottsville, where jobs are being transferred to Mexico, and early this year, to 110 employees at Woodwork of Mid America in Bowling Green.
For more information about programs available to dislocated workers, contact Leamon or Mudd at 781-2381.