Copperas Cove ISD discusses district’s co-op program at Coffee & Commerce

By BRITTANY FHOLER 

Cove Leader-Press 

The Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce and the Copperas Cove Independent School District joined together Friday morning for Coffee and Commerce to discuss the district’s efforts to help students get into the workforce. 

Friday’s guest speaker was Kayleen Love, the CCISD Workforce Coordinator, and CCHS teacher Charlotte Heinze, who oversees the school’s Co-Op program and DECA chapter. 

“Dr. Burns has a vision that we have some kiddos that are very employable,” Love said. “We would like to find a way to connect our kids more to the community. We now have a four-year college. They don’t necessarily have to leave and go away, so if we can invest them more in the community and they decide to stay here for school, that just builds our community all around.”

Heinze shared briefly with Chamber members and others present what the CCHS Co-Op program offers both students and businesses. Students who select Co-Op as one of their classes end up having to obtain a job at one of the businesses partnered with the school and have to go to work to earn a grade in the class. 

Currently, CCISD has a Co-Op agreement with Animal Medical Clinic, Applebee’s, Burger King, Bush’s Chicken (three locations), Camera Artistry, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle,  Church’s Chicken, Cinergy Cinemas, Dairy Queen, GymKix, H-E-B in Copperas Cove and Lampasas, McAlister’s Deli, McDonald’s, Mister Car Wash, Mountain Creek Range, Panda Express, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Raising Cane’s, Stackin’ Tees, Starbucks, Cove Fitness, the Bloom Coffee Roasters, Wal-Mart, Wetzel’s Pretzel (Fort Hood), Whataburger, Wendy’s and Williams Childcare. 

Heinze visits the businesses every six weeks to build a relationship and partnership with them. 

During the summer, Heinze said she goes to different businesses to explain what the Co-Op program is all about and “introducing and networking and letting them know we have great kids in our community and great kids that are willing to work and do the job.”

Kids apply for the class and sit down with Heinze, who conducts an interview to determine which job would work best for the student based on their personality. From there, Heinze sends the information to employers who set up their own interviews and select the students they want. 

 “The good thing about this partnership is their grade, 70  percent of their grade is their job, so when I meet with the employers and do the evaluations, that kind of tells me where the kids are at, where they need help and that allows me to adjust the curriculum inside the classroom,” Heinze said. 

Students are required to hold the job the entire semester. Heinze said she has been running this program for about 20 years now. 

“My whole goal, and I said this to Dr. Burns earlier, is to get the kids ready for life, teaching them how to give back to the community and the importance of being involved in the community,” Heinze said. “So if I can do that and the kid can come back to me and I can hear stories about them volunteering here, or giving back here and starting their own business and being successful, I’ve done my job, and it warms my heart.”

In the class, when students aren’t working their jobs, they are learning skills needed for the real world, like resume writing and how to create a cover letter. 

“Some of the students that we have out there in the community really are ambassadors for the school district, and we really appreciate everything that the students do and Mrs. Heinze does, and of course the administrators at the high school that support it and the administration here, Dr. Burns, we appreciate all the district does as a whole to help these kids be successful, because ultimately that’s where it’s at, right?” Love said. “If the community is going to grow, the Chamber’s going to grow, this is where it starts.”

Heinze added that she herself went through the Co-Op program when she was a student at CCHS. 

CCISD Superintendent Joe Burns also shared a message of the importance of a work program like the Co-Op class. 

“Our kids, more now than ever, need an opportunity to work, to know what it is to work and have to report on time and comply and abide by rules and do all those other things, and in that, kids learn how to develop good work ethic,” Burns said. “They also understand how to interact with their peers.”

Burns said he had a discussion before the meeting with a representative from the Texas Workforce Solutions about the fact that the most sought-after jobs in the area don’t require a four-year degree.

“There’s a lot of things out there, and I’m so proud that the State finally realized that there is value in all work; that you don’t have to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, an educator; that it’s okay to be a plumber, a contractor, an administrative assistant, a nurse’s aide or a med aide or an ultrasound technician or a hygienist or any of those things that go along the way, but there is a need for kids to have an opportunity to develop a skill, whether that is in a certification program, an associate’s program, a bachelor’s program or a work program,” Burns said. 

In addition to the Co-Op program, Burns shared that Love is working to some degree with the district’s Special Education program. There are a number of kids in the program who are “work capable” and need experience as well, Burns said. There are programs at the high school for internships and other volunteer opportunities for students to fulfill community service hour requirements. 

“What we really want to say to you today is CCISD is your full partner,” Burns said. “If you have a need, reach out to us. All we can say is we don’t do that, and there’s not much we don’t do.”