About Inspire
Beginning in 2015 as 'Inspire: Dreams Start Now,' initially started as a partnership between the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, Fairfield-Suisun City Chamber of Commerce, and The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Center. With a simple but passionate philosophy to tackle the task of uniting Solano County's workforce initiative in K-12 public school districts, the partnership has increased participation from key educational stakeholders. These include the Vacaville Unified School District, Travis Unified School District, Dixon Unified School District, and the Workforce Development Board of Solano County. The cities of Fairfield, Suisun City, Vacaville, and Dixon, as well as their respective Chambers of Commerce have also been instrumental partners in the initiative.
Inspire: Dreams Start Now
Inspire: Dreams Start Now provides a hands-on career exploration fair type of experience for 8th grade students to spend a few hours visiting different exhibit tables of Solano County businesses and organizations to learn about possible career pathways. This early exposure can influence the decisions students make in choosing their high school course work. Exhibitors get the opportunity to highlight specific careers and share with students what the path to employment might look like in their future.
Inspire: Dreams Move Forward
Second in a leg of a program that began three years ago, Inspire: Dreams Move Forward connects Solano County's workforce pipline with the dreams and aspirations of sophomore students in the local area. The 2018 program inspired over 800 high school sophomores, engaged nearly 30 local companies and partnered with 7 community organizations to provide one amazing opportunity to explore future career paths!
What's Next?
It was decided at last week's Inspire Board meeting that we will cancel all Inspire Dreams Start Now and Inspire Dreams Move Forward events for this school year. In February we will reconvene as a board and look at dates for the October 2022 8th grade event and the February 2023 10th grade event.
- Kristen Witt, Director of Secondary Education