TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- More than a dozen education professionals from Oklahoma City and the surrounding area participated in an introductory presentation of the Air Force Sustainment Center’s Classrooms to Careers Program March 27, the latest effort to establish partnerships with local schools, highlighting the vast array of technical and administrative career opportunities within the center.
Unlike AFSC’s partnerships with local colleges and universities, C2C targets local public-school students. According to Kyli M. Wood, a program manager for AFSC’s Workforce Development Division, the goal of C2C is to begin the familiarization process with our educators so they see the value in including federal civil service opportunities in their career advisement and guidance to students when laying out their future career and education pathways. Woods also explained that the work to prepare students for these kinds of jobs starts well before they are about to graduate high school.
“We established a partnership with the Oklahoma State Department of Education to familiarize school officials with base career opportunities so they can influence curriculum adjustments and assist students in making informed course selections for civil service pathways beginning in middle school. Additionally, the program creates a hiring pipeline for future employment opportunities.”
The guests, which included 10 teachers and two members of the Oklahoma State Department of Education and one from the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education (Career Tech), were able to get a first-hand look at the careers AFSC has to offer, and to see that someone does not have to become an active-duty Airman to work for the Air Force.
Wood explained that the sooner students are made aware of what is available, the better prepared they can become in deciding what they want as a long-term career path.
“By ensuring that this information reaches students early in their academic journey, they can begin to prepare effectively for these careers,” she said. “It paves the way for cultivating the next generation of our workforce, with many students opting to begin their careers here straight out of high school or college.”
C2C is just one of several educational collaboration programs that AFSC’s Civilian Personnel Directorate employs to help the center develop skilled, engaged, as well as motivated employees, using early recruiting and academic channels within the community.