Kirkwood Community College recently partnered with outside organizations to launch a new and improved set of programs. Their ceremony, held in the old ACT building, introduced the Junior Achievement Dream Accelerator, Kirkwood’s refurbished Career Academy and the new district welcome center.
Dr. Danielley Riney (she/her) has been a secondary curriculum coordinator in the Iowa City Community School District for the past two years. As a curriculum coordinator, her job plays an important role in educational development—overseeing core content areas of Science and English Language Arts, district events and the Dream Accelerator.
“Junior Achievement is a non-profit company that is across the nation, and that is where Dream Accelerator is coming from,” Riney said.
In partnership with Kirkwood, the Junior Achievement Dream Accelerator is a chance for students to pursue countless career interests, preluding the Kirkwood Job Shadow program, which offers students a hands-on experience in one or multiple fields of their choice for a day.
“This is an opportunity to give students ideas for what careers they want to explore and see a little bit more details, being able to focus a bit more on the financial aspect,” Riney said. “Whereas when you go into the Job Shadow program, you are able to actually do those things.”
At the Career Academy and Center for Innovation, students can continue to pursue those aspirations at a more long-term level.
“Kirkwood is offering courses here at the CFI…that allow students to get dual credit,” Riney said. “You may have heard of Comp. 1, Comp. 2, those types of courses. That’s what we’re offering here, except now, we’ve got a health course, a CNA course and so students are able to take those here.”
Kirkwood has a place for new families as well. The district welcome center is a strong part of ICCSD’s legacy, serving as a common ground for global understanding and education.
“The welcome center is a fantastic opportunity for students that are newly enrolling into the district to have a medium place to get those services, to get those needs met,” Riney said.
With varying enrollment times, locations of schools’ offices and language barriers, it can be overwhelming for new families to access the necessary resources for their children’s education. The welcome center’s system is geared to allow an opportunity for students of all demographics and abilities to access those resources with efficiency.
Kirkwood’s new developments may be a bridge between the hardships many face in education at ICCSD and beyond. For more information, contact [email protected] or [email protected].
