Expanding Horizons: Matthew Gambill,executive director of the Georgia Associationfor Career and Technical Education, atGordon College and Career Academy inCalhoun

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Blurring the LinesBy Ellen Berman

The grinding of a food processor. The roar of awelding machine. The soft whir of a bloodpressure cuff.

These are some of the sounds emanating fromhigh school classrooms in the 37 college andcareer academies throughout Georgia. Across thestate, more than 20,000 students aresupplementing their core classes with hands-onpreparation for the workplace.

The career academy movement came to fruitionin 2006 when Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle helped initiatethe program under the auspices of the TechnicalCollege System of Georgia. Grants of about $3million each are made available to interestedschool districts as an incentive to open anacademy, which are actually specialized charterschools representing a collaborative partnershipbetween high schools, colleges and localbusinesses. Since each academy is part of thelocal school system, the curriculum can respondto the particular workforce needs and resources

of the area.

“We encourage our members and teachers to have a robust business and industry advisorycouncil to offer feedback on the curriculum,” says Matthew Gambill, executive director of theGeorgia Association for Career and Technical Education (GACTE). “We want to make sureteachers and the GACTE members are aware of the big world of commerce outside theclassroom.”

The academies emphasize work-based learning and technical training for a seamlesstransition into the workforce. Students are also encouraged to take advantage of dualenrollment at local colleges or technical schools, in line with Cagle’s vision that every Georgiahigh school student acquires some post-secondary training before graduating.

GEORGIA TREND / DECEMBER 2016 / BLURRING THE LINES

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Popular fields of study include engineering, biomedicine, culinary arts, weld- ing, certifiednurse assisting, cosmetology, graphic arts and healthcare sciences. Course work in some fieldsis designed to teach the skills necessary for industry certification.

“Everything we do is above and beyond what we offer in the regular high school, from the labs,the level of equipment, the technology and the commitment we have received from the schoolsystem and the community,” says John Uesseler, CEO of the Academy for Advanced Studies inHenry County.

Career-relevantThat “above and beyond” starts with top-notch physical resources. At the Academy forAdvanced Studies, one lab has a full manufacturing line with operable robotics andprogrammable controllers. At Liberty College and Career Academy in Hinesville, the culinarylab is outfitted as a commercial restaurant; two health labs are equipped with medical bedsand manikins; the graphic design department has fully operable screen-printing machines;and the construction and engineering labs include fabrication and 3-D printing equipment.

The academies and other schools that offer a Career, Technical and Agricultural Education(CTAE) pathway boast graduation rates of 94.9 percent for students in those programs,compared to 78.8 percent for all Georgia high schools. Local businesses play a key role in thisvein.

“Well-paying jobs are out there, and we’re trying to get students to realize that a four-yeardegree may not be relevant to your career or the best way to spend your time,” says HerschelArant, vice president of engineering services at Central Georgia Electric Membership Corp.(CGEMC) and board chair for the Academy for Advanced Studies, “while spending 12 monthsat a tech college may prepare you for a fine career in a craft that bodes well for your future.”

EMC has a lineman apprenticeship program in the works and is excited about the potential forthe academies to help fill what he calls a “skills gap” in Georgia’s workforce.

“We have a mismatch between the skills and training of the workforce and the job needs ofemployers,” Arant says. “The academies connect two worlds, rigorous training and relevantlearning experiences, that move students toward careers that are needed now and in thefuture.”

Flooring manufacturer Mohawk Industries is doing its part to fill the skills gap at the GordonCounty College and Career Academy, where it is supplying a full-time employee to teach themulti-disciplinary field of mechatronics to engineering students to assure instruction ispertinent to long-term employment needs.

Liberty Regional Medical Center has opened its doors to allow Liberty College and CareerAcademy students to shadow professionals in the surgical or labor and delivery wing; studentsalso work with residents at the Coastal Manor nursing home. And at Athens CommunityCareer Academy, students can gain work experience with Caterpillar, Zaxby’s, Eaton Corp. andUGA, among others.

One Size Doesn’t Fit AllBut the academies do not exist solely to scoot high school students directly into jobs.

“What’s interesting is that when they come here, they want a skill for the workforce, but oncethey start taking classes, many students find they want to earn a degree,” says Karisa Young,CEO of Liberty College and Career Academy. “We work with them to explore what education isrequired for a particular career.”

“We are doing a disservice to our students in this region to promote the one-size-fits-allcollege prep diploma,” says Shelly Smith, a former English teacher and CEO of SoutheasternEarly College and Career Academy (SECCA), which serves Montgomery County High School,

Toombs County High School, Treutlen High School and Vidalia Comprehensive High School.

At SECCA, automotive services is second in popularity to ROTC; the ROTC instructor travelsto each high school in the area to instruct the 180 students enrolled in that program.

Stories of the academies’ life-changing effects abound. One SECCA student with behavioralproblems interned at the USPET Nutrition plant in Lyons, where he worked in the ITdepartment creating badges and flyers for internal operations.

“He realized that when you are in school they have to be nice to you, but that at USPET, as heput it, ‘nobody had to be nice to me; I had to earn it,’” Smith says. USPET subsequently offeredthe young man a full-time job.

Liberty College and Career Academy Senior Caitlin Aughtman starts her school day withregular high school classes, then takes the bus to work as a sous chef in the school’scommercially equipped kitchen that includes a bistro, where students can sell theirconcoctions and learn how to run a business. Her pumpkin bread recipe has become a hit withfamily and friends.

But it’s not all sweetness and light in the kitchen. Chicken fabrication, involving cutting up awhole chicken into pieces and removing the bones and fat, is one of Aughtman’s most dislikedtasks. Still, Aughtman says, “It’s so much better than school. They treat us as young adults andas employees. They want to get us job-ready.”

For students enrolled in the financial career pathway at Henry County’s Academy forAdvanced Studies, getting a job can be as easy as walking down the hall. In a convertedclassroom, Georgia United Credit Union operates the only full-service, fully operationalstudent-managed credit union in the nation.

The branch trains students to be customer service reps and tellers, and they are held to thesame standards as other employees. They fill out resumes, go through the selection processand undergo professional training.

“In our last group we had a student who was so shy she would barely talk to anyone,” saysBranch Manager Meg Norrell, “but when she graduated in May you wouldn’t have known; sheopened and blossomed and became one of our member service providers and later helpedtrain incoming students.”

The branch has been so successful that other academies are planning to follow suit.

Academics FirstAcademies may be preparing students for the workplace, but a firm academic foundation isessential to the training they offer.

“It starts to resonate with students who say ‘oh, so this is why I needed to learn that geometry,so when I frame up the house the walls are square,’” says CGEMC’s Arant.

“Some of the kids we work with are from lower-income families and might be pressured todrop out of school to get a job,” says Kevin Ingram, USPET operations manager. “Theacademy program puts the proper emphasis on balancing education with work life. And wegive them a fair wage right from the start.”

True to maintaining that balance, Ingram assures student workers that grades come first. Anda focal point of work-based learning is soft skills. “Many kids don’t know how to talk to asupervisor or understand the importance of not taking too long for a break,” Ingram says. “Wetake them under our wing … it’s as if every student has 25 aunts and uncles watching overthem here all the time.”

Ingram adds that the benefits work both ways: The experiences teach front-level employeeshow to train and mentor young adults, making a stronger team and boosting morale – at a

time when it is most welcome: USPET is rebuilding after a major downsizing last year.

Challenges and Opportunities

“With 289 students, we are at maximum capacity,” says Lawrence Harris, CEO of AthensCommunity Career Academy, adding that there is so much demand they could probablydouble capacity if there was more room. “Here in Athens, where 36 percent of the populationis below the poverty line, it has been a great savings for families.”

The savings come in several forms. Each student receives a laptop computer, and the schoolsystem pays for transportation between students’ home high schools and the academy. Andstudents who receive college credit through dual enrollment may be able to enter college assophomores. Athens Career Academy offers eight career-focused programs, including criminaljustice, interior design, early childhood education and mechatronics.

Henry County’s Academy for Advanced Studies is also stretching at the seams. After openingits doors in a space shared with Henry County High School, it expanded into a 58,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility and is now at maximum capacity.

To handle the growing enrollment, Henry County High School students will soon move into anew McDonough High School building, while Henry County High School will become the newacademy home.

Besides facilities, the academies’ ongoing challenge is to stay relevant, prepare students tomeet evolving workforce needs and keep pace with technology. This means curricula mustremain fluid.

“We are seeing a workforce shortage in everything from teachers to welders and constructionspecialists,” Gambill of Georgia ACTE says. “The consensus from employers is we won’t have asufficient workforce to pull from when the current workforce starts retiring.

“At Atlanta Gas Light, the average age of employees is 48. Only 12 percent of their entireworkforce has a post-secondary college degree; the rest of their employees have skills but nodegree,” he adds. “We are seeing an ebb and flow of the current workforce as it slowly agesout, and we need new talent. And at Georgia Power, some of their linemen earn $70,000 to$80,000 a year, but they have an aging population and they are concerned about it.”

Graduates of the academies’ increasingly popular energy pathway will be prepared to fill someof these positions. A new diesel technician pathway that is being developed by the Academyfor Advanced Studies in cooperation with construction equipment dealer Yancey Broth- erswill help prepare graduates to fill the growing demand for technicians to work on heavyequipment. Plans are underway in some academies to offer phlebotomy students hands-onclinical prac- tice in drawing blood in cooperation with area hospitals so that they will beeligible to become fully certified phlebotomists.

“Every student in the state of Georgia ought to have access to a career academy education,”Arant says.

That may soon be a reality. Cagle has expressed a strong desire to make an academy educationaccessible to all Georgia high school students.

“I’m committed to providing every student with access to a college and career academy by2020, and we’re well on our way with 37 currently operating across the state,” Cagle says.“Looking ahead, there are 10 communities in the planning and designing phases now withmany more to come.”

“Since 2007, we have made great strides in creating a more dynamic workforce for our 21stcentury economy,” Arant says. “However, there are still gaps that exist, and our network ofcollege and career academies are perfectly designed to fulfill that workforce need.”

This article appears in the December 2016 issue of Georgia TrendDid you like what you read here? Subscribe to Georgia Trend »

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