Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Igniting education
Bentonville schools open new facility for professional studies.
BENTONVILLE — The Ignite Professional Studies Program celebrated the opening of its new building Wednesday.
The program will have about 330 students this school year at the Center for Advanced Professional Studies, 1510 N. Walton Blvd., said Teresa Hudson, program director.
The building cost $6.2 million to renovate, said Leslee Wright, Bentonville Schools communications director.
Ignite began with 15 students in 2014, Hudson said, and has had 565 students to date.
The program offers education and training in the career fields of culinary arts, construction management, education innovation, global business, health sciences, technology, video production, and digital design and photography, she said.
High school and junior high students can take classes in the program.
“It’s a community of things that we’re teaching here,” Hudson said, explaining students earn high school and college credit, as well as certified career training while attending the program. “Our students are career ready when they leave.”
All of the career fields will be taught at Ignite’s new building, with the exception of culinary arts and construction, which will be taught at Brightwater and in its own building, respectively, Hudson said.
The program was taught in borrowed rooms and storage spaces at businesses relevant to the program’s curriculum, she said. Having their own space, storage and tools will create a professional learning environment, she said.
Hudson used the technology track as an example, explaining students will use high-tech robotics, laser engraving and 3D printers.
“We really went and did our research to try and find those things that are the newest and most current pieces of technology,” she said. “The tools we’ve been able to buy are going to increase our innovation, and we think that we’re going to see students creating things that we can actually do patents with.”
Third District Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, spoke at Wednesday’s event and said Ignite is doing what’s necessary for the financial success of communities.
“It will be the development of that workforce from the skill sets that we need today and in the future that will be the key to success in developing economically,” Womack said. “Northwest Arkansas, I think, is doing a very good job of getting out ahead of that change.”
It’s important to prepare students who may not choose to go to college after high school for the future, he said.
“There are many jobs out there with great incomes that do not necessarily require that college degree,” Womack said.
Randy Zook, president and CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, also spoke, noting Ignite is training students for jobs that are in high demand in Northwest Arkansas.
“The problem is a lot of the jobs require skills and training and preparation and education that enough people simply do not have,” Zook said, adding many school districts have underinvested in the career paths taught at Ignite. “This is a huge step forward. This will become the benchmark in Northwest Arkansas.”
Austin Conner, 18, of Centerton graduated from West High School in 2019. He’s been a paid intern through the program with Flintco construction services for the past six months and helped with the renovation of Ignite’s new building.
Conner said he plans on attending John Brown University this fall to pursue a bachelor’s degree in construction management followed by a master’s degree in business.
“I was actually going to go to school for architecture and I did a complete 180 and went the construction route,” he said. “Ignite really exposed me to the whole construction side of things, and I just fell in love with that more than the architecture side.”
He said he would recommend Ignite to anyone who has the ability to enroll in the program.
“It really opens your eyes to what you want to pursue,” Conner said. “It helps develop your passion.”
The experience proved so successful for Conner and Flintco that the company opted to keep Conner on as a paid intern.
“It’s neat to get the young kids that are interested in construction and just teach them everything that goes on to build a building and do a project from start to finish,” said Scot Hundley, Flintco project manager. “You can learn so much more being out with businesses than just reading in a book.”
Debbie Jones, Bentonville Public Schools superintendent, credits the program’s students, teachers and community business partners for Ignite’s success.
“The Ignite program has proven it’s not the facility and it’s not the furnishings that go inside the building that gives students the extraordinary opportunities that they have,” Jones said. “Together, you have worked from the ground up to build Ignite.”