Business and education officials came together Thursday morning in Carbon County to discuss how the sectors can work together to make the area more attractive to young people after they graduate high school.

The Carbon County Business Education Partnership met for the first time this year in September and a top discussion item, Carbon County Chamber and Economic Development Executive Director Alice Wanamaker said, was ways to improve the economy and quality of life to encourage young people to stay here in Carbon County.

“We want to understand the needs of students in our community and what it will take to keep them here,” Wanamaker said. “One of our goals has been how to get further into schools and ask these questions.”

On Thursday morning at the Hofford Mill in Weissport, the group heard from Lehighton Area High School senior Holly Fasching, who runs the school’s “Tribe Pride” Instagram account, capturing and promoting many of the moments and activities happening at LAHS this year.

“This is my home and I love it here so I do plan on coming back,” Fasching said. “The best way to improve your community is by coming back and making a difference. I feel the Instagram page is one way we’re bringing everyone together at the school right now.”

LAHS Principal Sue Howland said Fasching is applying to schools such as Lehigh University and sees her as a student who will come back and make a positive impact in the area.

“She’s very active at the Lehighton Outdoor Center,” Howland said. “As a Lehighton and Carbon County native, I think the outdoors is something we are capitalizing on here and have to continue to do so. That is what sells us right now.”

One in three local students, Lehighton Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said, are involved in some type of extracurricular activity. For many of those students, the activity is sports related and Cleaver pointed to a facility similar to the Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Lancaster County as something that could keep parents, and the dollars they spend, closer to home. Spooky Nook is a large indoor sports complex with a variety of field and courts that host local, regional and national tournaments. It also houses an arcade, rock climbing walls and other family entertainment options.

“Travel sports is huge right now,” Cleaver said, “and parents are going great distances for their children to participate in some of these activities. I know it’s easier said than done, but when parents are going to the Lehigh Valley or Wilkes-Barre, or even further, their dollars are following them. When they go to these competitions, they have to go out to eat and things like that.”

Expanding on that, Howland said bringing “Books and Ball” under one roof is an opportunity waiting to be tapped.

“A one-stop shop is something that really needs to be looked into,” she said. “A lot of our Division I athletes in Lehighton are field hockey players and they are traveling to train at Spooky Nook or going down to Pottstown. Many of them are studying in their vehicles. If you put it all together with a tutoring type facility, maybe an SAT prep, I think you have a pretty good experience.”

Palmerton Area Library Program Administrator Rachel DeMicco, however, said opportunities need to extend beyond the court or field.

“I know our love for the outdoors here in Carbon County is deep and our passion for sports is strong, but if we just think along those lines, we’re going to lose a lot of kids,” DeMicco said. “Kids are in our community parks at night until 10 p.m. because they don’t know what to do. Palmerton has been talking about a skateboard park for a decade. Can we get a pinball arcade or a cafe that has a poetry night or a teen open mic night?”

The Carbon County Business Education Partnership is planning its next meeting for Nov. 18 at the Hofford Mill.