1. NCWorks Career Pathways Grant Final Evaluation
Horticulture and Turfgrass Management
Career Paths
June 2 - 3, 2016

2. Carolina Creations – Jon Thrift - GM
BCC horticulture graduate and BCC Distinguished Alumnus
Field trip host/guest speaker to BCC/BCS students – Employer Engagement/WBL
Participated in career fairs at BCC and WBHS – Employer Engagement
Host site for Educate the Educators (2 day event) – WBL
Served as 1 of 5 small groups for hands on learning at 1st Annual Horticulture Awareness day – Career Advising
Sponsored a Professional Development Event for BCC faculty and staff on time management and decision making – Employer Engagement

4. Horticulture Awareness Day

5. 5 high schools, all 7 high school agriculture
teachers, 4 BCC faculty, 5 2nd year BCC students
and 60 high school students

6. High School Visits to BCC Campus

7. The Clubs at St. James – Rodney Crouse – 1st Assistant Superintendent
Have employed over 17 students/graduates in past 10 years
Field trip host to BCC students – Employer Engagement/WBL
A Day in the Life of an Assistant Superintendent – WBL
STEM Tour Event – Career Advising

8. A Day in the Life of an Assistant Superintendent The Clubs at St. James

11. STEM Speaks and STEM Tour
250 10th graders
180 8th graders

12. 3 BCC graduates and 7 BCC 2nd year students lead event

13. Work Based Learning and Employer Engagement
320 hour WBL 112 – leads to jobs
Pro Day Event with NCSU Cooperative Extension – current students participate in event
Interactive field trips – do something on the trip other than listen

14. Pinehurst Field Trip Leads to Jobs - 9

15. Graduate Success

17. Pro Day
Industry professionals earn industry
recertification credits

18. Interactive/Hands-on Field Trips

21. Programs of Study
BCC faculty and BCS teachers met to update local curriculum articulation agreement
Additional horticulture course added to the local agreement (3 total horticulture/turfgrass college courses)
Promotional brochures were created and distributed
“High School to College to Career” curriculum matrices created and promoted via promotional flyers
Turfgrass management certificate added to Career and College Promise
WorkKeys Career Readiness Certification (CRC) assessments administered
Industry certification opportunities via BCC’s horticulture/turfgrass programs were provided (NC Commercial Pesticide Applicators License – 89% pass rate over 5 years (97 of 109)

22. Lessons Learned
Must have additional funds available during and after grant period to better implement (Plant sale and donors)
All classes in curriculum are offered as hybrid, with a few online
New relationships take a very long time to form and 20 (17) months is not long enough for these relationships to develop (longer grant time frame)
The grant created extra work for all stakeholders; so, without much incentive it was difficult to get full buy-in to all grant related activities (we would do a better job of identifying incentive – example for high school teachers – FFA)

23. Plant Sale

24. Year after year of the CFGCSA Scholarship Presentation and Luncheon

25. Donor Luncheon for Internship Success

26. Thanks!
Dean Bennett – Director, Horticulture and Turfgrass Management, Brunswick Community College
Jerry Smith – Coordinator, Center for Advanced Studies, Brunswick County Schools / Brunswick Community College