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Areas of patchy fog early. Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High 77F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph..

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low around 60F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.

Jane Dagmi, managing director of High Point by Design, speaks at the High Point Partnership for Schools networking event held at the Cohab Space on W. English Road on Tuesday. Guests included local leaders in education, home furnishings and design.

Guilford County Schools Superintendent Whitney Oakley shares some data and updates about the school system during Tuesday’s event.

Jane Dagmi, managing director of High Point by Design, speaks at the High Point Partnership for Schools networking event held at the Cohab Space on W. English Road on Tuesday. Guests included local leaders in education, home furnishings and design.

Guilford County Schools Superintendent Whitney Oakley shares some data and updates about the school system during Tuesday’s event.

HIGH POINT — Bringing fifth-graders to a space that’s prominent in High Point’s furniture-and-design world for a dance may not sound like an important start, but weaving new connections between local public schools and the home furnishings industry begins with a single thread, a leader in the design industry said.

Having the students from Fairview Elementary School see Cohab Space on English Road will be just a start toward getting students familiar with the scope of the industry, including the range of careers connected to it, said Jane Dagmi, the managing director of High Point by Design.

“We’re just at the beginning,” she said Tuesday evening after an event organized by the High Point Schools Partnership to bring Guilford County Schools leaders to High Point to mingle socially with some of the people who work in furniture and design.

Flyers for the networking event prominently advertised the topic as “Exposing High Point students to the home furnishings and design industry.”

Matthew Thiel of the partnership said in an interview afterward that the event was just one of a series the partnership plans to have to try to build partnerships with various civic, business and religious organizations, but he would love to see it lead to more interaction and such things as student tours of furniture and design businesses.

Dagmi told the crowd at the event that she wants to be able to educate young people about the broad range of opportunities to be found, not just advanced manufacturing or design but such things as marketing, promotion and sales. “There’s so many dimensions about our industry that we can bring into the schools,” she said. “I think we can kind of bring that spark into the classroom.”

Dagmi, a former substitute teacher, said it’s also energizing to adults to work with children.

“When you walk into a school it’s so exciting to see the kids,” she said.

GCS Superintendent Whitney Oakley said the gathering was emblematic of the “feel of hope and momentum” she finds in High Point and said she agrees it’s important to expose children in middle-school grades — “High school is late,” she said — to as many locally available career options as possible.

“I’m very proud we graduate kids at high numbers, but how do we keep them here?” she said.

City Councilman Cyril Jefferson said that the school system is critical to High Point keeping pace with the evolving world of furniture and design.

“High Point, all over the green globe, has had an influence on everything that goes into a home,” he said. “If we can help them (local students) see the possibilities, I know they can grow into it.”

Tuesday’s event was the third in High Point since mid-November where introducing students to furniture industry careers was discussed. In November and in early March informational sessions were organized by Guilford Works, Business High Point-Chamber of Commerce, the city of High Point and Guilford Technical Community College, and more are planned to try to come up with plans on how to go about it.

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