Media Contact: Emily Mercer;
EMercer@DallasCollege.edu
For immediate release — Oct. 9, 2024
(DALLAS) — While Dallas College is known for providing education to thousands of students each year, it also partners with organizations to contribute positively to the workforce and community. That’s why Dallas College and Be Pro Be Proud are joining forces to change the future generation of Texas’ skilled trade workers.
Be Pro Be Proud is an organization dedicated to raising awareness around technical skill trade jobs in construction, welding, manufacturing, transportation and utilities. Originally started as an Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce initiative, it is quickly spreading to other states, including Texas.
“At Dallas College, we are committed to staying helpful and relevant to our business partners in the workforce,” Dr. Christa Slejko, president of Dallas College North Lake Campus, said. “When the idea came to bring this initiative to Texas, Be Pro Be Proud was looking for partners to help, and as a regional economic driver, we were one of the first organizations to champion the effort.”
While Be Pro Be Proud does not provide direct training for technical skill jobs, it introduces the concept of career awareness and exploration, spreading knowledge about job availability and potential within the trades. The main way they do this is through their mobile workshop, which contains immersive virtual and augmented reality technical career simulators.
“Be Pro Be Proud’s cool technology and equipment will dazzle you,” Dr. Timothy Samuels, assistant vice chancellor of innovation and business strategy at Dallas College, said. “It’s not the only solution to fill the approximately 1 million open jobs in the trades today, but it’s a great chance to appeal to the pipeline and discover future talent opportunities with middle and high schoolers.”
Traditionally, high school students are taught about college opportunities but lack awareness of the skilled trade workforce. Through the mobile workshop technology, students have the opportunity to observe what type of work these careers entail and if they’d be interested in it.
Each student is surveyed pre- and post-workshop experience to gather data about their interests and experiences. Post-simulator, 74% of students agree that they think differently about these potential careers; 76% of students felt they better understood the opportunities in that career path; and 69% of students said they had a more favorable view of careers in that path, according to Be Pro Be Proud.
Texas is the eighth state to join the Be Pro Be Proud movement, and North Texas is the first region in the state to pilot the mobile workforce campaign. Over the next three years, Be Pro Be Proud is projected to have around 300 tour dates across middle schools, high schools and community spaces like Dallas College campuses, bringing their mobile workshop to more than 45,000 North Texan visitors.
While Slejko realizes that might not translate directly into community college enrollment numbers, it provides solutions for the workforce and opens opportunities for students to engage in new experiences and career paths they’d never considered before.
“Between our traditional credit routes and workforce and customized training, Dallas College offers pathways to connect students to the skilled workforce,” she said. “We see the bigger picture and are invested in the Be Pro Be Proud model. What’s good for high school is also good for college, which is good for employers and ultimately, the region.”
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About Dallas College
Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2025, Dallas College consists of seven campuses — Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake and Richland — plus a dozen centers located throughout Dallas County. As one of the largest community colleges in the U.S., Dallas College offers online and in-person learning, serving more than 127,000 credit, workforce and continuing education students annually. Students benefit from partnerships with local school districts, four-year universities, industry and community leaders. Dallas College offers associate degree and career/technical certificate programs in more than 100 areas of study, as well as bachelor’s degrees in education and nursing. As the largest provider of dual credit in Texas, Dallas College serves 30,000 high school students through 63 dual credit programs.
About Be Pro Be Proud
Be Pro Be Proud is an initiative led by the Associated Industries of Arkansas that is spearheading the movement to bring a new generation of pride, progress and professionals to Arkansas’ skilled workforce. As the current skilled workforce is at or near retirement age, Be Pro Be Proud hopes to change how Arkansans think about these job opportunities. Be Pro Be Proud offers opportunities for job seekers, skilled professionals, employers and teachers to be involved through training, workshops and more. For more information about Be Pro Be Proud, visit BeProBeProud.org.