By Lewis Delavan
Arkansas News Bureau

HOT SPRINGS — An emphasis on readying students for higher education or the workplace is showing results for an Arkansas community college and a pair of state high schools recognized nationally for academic improvements.

National Park Community College, Mountain Pine High School (Garland County) and Siloam Springs High School (Benton County) will be among 62 schools in 21 states honored this week at the Southern Regional Education Board’s annual High Schools That Work Staff Development Conference in Louisville, Ky.

High Schools That Work is the SREB’s largest program. It presses public schools to strengthen curriculum and instruction, and encourages instructional innovation.

“It’s based on the premise that most students can master rigorous academic and career or technical studies if school leaders and teachers create a school environment that motivates all students to make the effort to succeed,” senior vice president and program founder Gene Bottoms said in a press release.

National Park’s technology center is one of four nationally receiving the Gold Readiness Award. The center serves all seven public school districts in Garland County.

“We’ve taken very seriously for a number of years that students need a career path,” NPCC President Sally Carder said. “We want to give them a pathway to their future.”

Once students set a path, they are challenged by the center’s course work.

“We require a lot of our students, and it’s paid off,” Carder said.

Participating in the regional board’s High Schools That Work program has helped National Park’s instructors hone their skills and challenge students’ abilities, Carder said.

High school students freely choose the courses they will pursue during two hours a day at the technology center. Classes range from advertising design, medical professions and criminal justice to automotive repair, cabinet making, machine tool and career-based internship.

The student’s input raises their enthusiasm and lifts the completion rate, she said.

Technology center director David Hughes said all students gain basic skills that will benefit them even if their career path changes. High school juniors and seniors can choose the program as an elective.

“We recognize that a 16-, 17- or 18-year-old may have dreams and aspirations that will change,” assistant director Jason Hudnell said. “We understand that life changes.”

Hughes and Hudnell will present programs at the annual conference and for the first year, all of the tech center’s instructors will attend.

Carder said the school’s national recognition will benefit the area.

“It’s an honor not only for the technology center and the college, but for our whole community,” she said.

Siloam Springs High School was among 30 schools nationally receiving the top Pacesetter Schools honor. The school also won the honor two years ago.

Personal attention to students is one of Siloam Springs’ strengths, Counselor Lesa Eaves said. Block scheduling was adopted two decades ago, and allows teachers to work with no more than 90 students, rather than the 150 that would be possible from seven classes.

During their 85-minute preparation period, teachers are available to work with students and also use the time to contact parents. A daily 30-minute “encore” period allows students to meet individually with teachers. Math teachers are available for tutoring before and after the regular class day.

“Teachers are available to help students, and students do take advantage of the opportunities,” Eaves said.

The high school has increased the number of Advanced Placement classes offered, and nearly 10 percent of the 1,110-member student body take AP classes, she said.

Mountain Pine High School received the SREB’s Gold Improvement Award.

The district faced an unknown future when the town’s main employer, Weyerhaeuser Inc., shuttered its plant several years ago. The district lost students for several years, but actually gained some students last year and is not in danger of falling below the state minimum size of 350 students, Superintendent Bobby Gray said.

“Our students and teachers are doing a great job,” Gray said. “This is a great school, with history and tradition. Garland County has seven public school districts, and this shows we can compete with anybody.”

Mountain Pine’s teachers are committed to helping each student succeed, and the High Schools that Work program has helped provide direction and innovation for the school, Gray said.

The non-profit SREB is based in Atlanta, Ga., and was founded in 1948 by Southern governors and legislators to improve education.