[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 154 (Wednesday, October 29, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S13511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WORKPLACE LEARNING CONNECTION

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, in the middle of the last decade, a 
group of business and education leaders in Cedar Rapids, IA convened a 
stakeholder group to discuss community concerns. This group identified 
the need for a highly skilled and well-educated workforce as a top 
priority.
  The fact that this group identified the need to improve workforce 
development is not news. Nor is the problem they identified unique or 
isolated to eastern Iowa. What is news and what is unique is the 
response.
  In 1998, area employers, educational institutions and community 
organizations partnered with Kirkwood Community College and Grant Wood 
Area Education Agency to create the Workplace Learning Connection to 
facilitate work-based learning for area students. This project is a 
winner for everyone involved. Teachers and students get more 
information about local career opportunities and the skills needed for 
those careers. Students get experience in relevant, work-based learning 
activities. Employers get workers with the skills that match the jobs 
they have.
  The Workplace Learning Connection has been recognized as one of the 
11 best Tech Prep programs in the Nation, is one of the top 25 school-
to-work programs in the country and has been cited in national 
publications as an exemplary program. Over the past 5 years, TWLC has 
worked with over 700 employers to organize over 8,000 job shadow 
experiences and 750 internships; provided professional development 
activities for teachers impacting thousands of students in 35 area 
school districts in 7 counties; and facilitated hundreds of business 
tours and classroom speakers.
  The Workplace Learning Connection has been an unqualified success and 
the community is celebrating the fifth anniversary of this project on 
October 30, 2003. In commemoration of this event, I wanted to bring 
this organization to the attention of the Senate and the 
Nation.

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