(Columbia, MO) – Job Point announced today that installation of smart screens has been completed in all five classrooms at their main campus at 400 Wilkes Boulevard. Over the last year, the team has been working to replace aging technology in each of the classrooms, the final screens were purchased in March and April with funds from Boone Electric Community Trust.
This upgrade has benefited all of Job Point’s instructors, like Sarah Moreau, who teaches a personal finance course weekly through Central Bank of Boone County’s ProsperU program.
Sarah’s weekly classes about personal finance have helped empower students with the tools they need to make smart choices about their money. Sarah Moreau works for Central Bank of Boone County’s ProsperU program.
As she pulls up her PowerPoint slides, guest instructor, Sarah Moreau, invites students to take their seats.
“Let’s go ahead and get started,” she says, advancing to the first slide.
In weeks past, getting things ready to project on the screen took some fiddling and adjustments, but today she is ready to go almost immediately. Before, students had down time and tended to wander around the classroom or down the halls, but not anymore. Thanks to a transformative grant from Boone Electric Cooperative, Job Point was able to purchase smart screens and complete a technology upgrade for all of its classrooms.
“Being able to transition seamlessly between showing slides, playing a video and bringing in a virtual instructor has been a game changer for our classroom flow,” Jerrell Morton, Director of YouthBuild, said. “We can do things we didn’t have the ability to do before and we can speed up the process as well.”
These technology upgrades ensure that Job Point’s students have a great experience while they are pursuing their high school equivalency or higher education goals. Many of Job Point’s courses include a variety of hands-on experiences as well as remote learning, virtual reality and simulators to equip students with the skills they need to succeed in the classroom and in the workforce. Having the right technology in place to support all of the ways students learn has been a great resource for Job Point’s instructors.
Jerrell connects a microscope to his laptop that’s connected to the new smart screen, allowing the whole class to observe samples they collected together.
“When we have the tools we need to meet students where they are, everyone thrives. Our teachers feel more confident and our students feel engaged. It is a win-win for everyone,” Steve Smith, Job Point’s President and CEO, said.
As the needs of students and employers evolve, Job Point has been able to keep innovating thanks in large part to the incredible generosity of private businesses and organizations like Boone Electric Cooperative. This is imperative because most of our public sources of funding are explicit in their focus on direct services and there is little room in the budget for purchasing technology and equipment – making this gift from Boone Electric Cooperative an important investment in the future of Job Point’s courses and instruction.
“We are so thankful for this grant from Boone Electric Cooperative and what it has allowed our team to do in the classroom,” Steve Smith said. “It is not merely a gift to Job Point, it is an investment in our students and their families. We cannot wait to see the incredible things that will happen in their lives as a result of this gift.”
About Job Point
Job Point is Missouri’s premier employment center and Community Development Corporation. Since 1965, we have been linking people and jobs by providing career planning and job placement assistance. We specialize in preparing individuals to enter the workforce, while meeting a critical need of the business community. The organization is headquartered in Columbia, Missouri, with services extending to Moberly, Boonville and the surrounding communities. Since 2003, Job Point’s YouthBuild program has helped over 1,100 youth and young adults reclaim their education and build the skills they need for life-long learning, leadership and personal and professional success.
