Rev Partnership CEO Karen Molinar noted a recurring theme in the past two weeks as she listened to students across Tarrant County.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re interested in careers. They want a variety of pathways. But a key piece is often missing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want exposure to the different career paths that are available to them,\u201d Molinar said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meeting student demand will take collaboration from Tarrant County\u2019s K-12 school systems, higher education institutions and businesses, regional workforce leaders said at the Fort Worth Report 2026 Growth Summit on Thursday at Frost Tower. The outcome will be a stronger, homegrown workforce that can support the area\u2019s growth and transform the lives of students.<\/p>\n
A simple action adults must take with students will kick it off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to start listening,\u201d Molinar said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tarrant County is heading in the right direction, panelists said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Industry and schools are working together at a level that Kirsten Jakowitsch, interim president of Tarrant County College\u2019s Northeast Campus, has not seen in her three decades in higher education.<\/p>\n
K-12 schools have more than 1,300 career-and-technical education teachers, more than 80% of high school students are enrolled in career-readiness class and close to 8,000 students earn an industry credential by graduation, Molinar said.<\/p>\n
But too many barriers exist for students from low-income families, said Lindsey Garner, president and CEO of Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County. Her nonprofit places licensed social workers in schools to work with students most at risk of dropping out and ensure their needs are seen and met.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the pipeline isn\u2019t working for everyone, it\u2019s not working,\u201d Garner said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Garner used a student at Fort Worth ISD\u2019s Amon Carter-Riverside High School as an example. The student wants to cross the graduation stage. He\u2019s also a young father and must support his family. He visited his social worker and said that he was leaving school because he could not afford his next car payment.<\/p>\n
Communities In Schools stepped in and assisted the student with his car payment so he can remain in school. State data shows more than 4 in 5 FWISD students come from low-income families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are providing the interventions, prioritizing that so they are on track to not only graduate on time, but that they have every opportunity to create a vision and a practice plan for what lies beyond the graduation stage,\u201d Garner said.<\/p>\n
Robert Sturns, Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County\u2019s executive director, knows employers want workers with technical skills, credentials and who know how to navigate a digital world. But they also tell Sturns they need something else: soft skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo show up at work on time, to be able to communicate with their co-workers, to be adaptable and flexible and to take some criticism,\u201d Sturns said.<\/p>\n
The skills can\u2019t entirely be taught in credentialing programs, he said. They start at home. But schools need to bake it into their programs alongside technical skills.<\/p>\n
K-12 schools are seeing students use their soft skills more after Texas banned cell phones, Molinar said. After the law went into effect last year, Molinar, then FWISD superintendent, walked around high schools to see how students were reacting to the ban.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was amazing to see them conversing at lunchtime, sitting outside having conversations and even playing board games at lunch instead of on their cell phones,\u201d said Molinar, a former FWISD superintendent. \u201cWe needed a technical solution to make that start.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students also want work-based learning opportunities. TCC has state-of-the-art labs for advanced manufacturing and aviation, but they are not at the level of those found in an employer\u2019s facility, Jakowitsch said.<\/p>\n
TCC leans on nearly 700 different work-based learning partnerships with employers across the county, she said. Some are even paid apprenticeships.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat gives our students the opportunity to either get clinical, practical or applied work experience in an employer\u2019s facility,\u201d Jakowitsch said.<\/p>\n
Areas of improvement exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Molinar noted the need for better communication between businesses and K-12 schools. Both employers and school districts need to each designate one person as a point of contact who can nurture relationships that blossom into meaningful programs, lessons and opportunities for students.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always talk about persistence for our students to get through school, get through college, get through the next steps,\u201d Molinar said. \u201cWe need persistence to even establish those partnerships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Businesses and schools also must show students pathways they never considered, Sturns and Jakowitsch said. Manufacturing and logistics aren\u2019t as cool as aerospace, but both industries need workers. The challenge is breaking students\u2019 preconceived notions and showing them that these are modern, technologically advanced careers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe jobs are there,\u201d Jakowitsch said. \u201cThere\u2019s more we can do with employers to talk about the career paths.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molinar wants Tarrant County\u2019s K-12 schools, colleges and businesses to create a public-facing dashboard that tracks the success of students, their college persistence and their eventual careers. That level of transparency allows leaders to tout success, find gaps and help students.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can do this together,\u201d Molinar said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @_jacob_sanchez<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report\u2019s reader advisory council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/10\/22\/homegrown-workforce-depends-on-tarrant-county-schools-employers-working-together\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=843303&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/10\/22\/homegrown-workforce-depends-on-tarrant-county-schools-employers-working-together\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script>