The Career Academy and Technical School in Troutman held its first Community Advisory Board meeting Wednesday to explore what CATS Principal Larry Rogers called “golden opportunities” to work with businesses in the county.
The board will meet quarterly to discuss how the school will continue to train its students for job opportunities at local industries, with the focus on keeping graduating students in Iredell County when they start working.
“We need to be more engaged with what the industry needs are,” said Dr. Tim Brewer, newly appointed Mitchell Community College president. “We’ve got to develop programs that are going to mean something for students when they get out.”
CATS currently carries three areas of study: automotive technology, allied health science and culinary arts. Two more focuses are being added in the fall: digital media / broadcasting and firefighting.
A cosmetology program partnered with MCC and a worker-training course with Caterpillar, Inc. are also in the development stages. Auto-tech students will begin painting cars next week as well.
Any new curriculum CATS introduces must be approved in October of the year before classes would start, meaning the school must always plan a couple years ahead.
Representatives from local hospitals, radio stations, Lowe’s and Kewaunee are among those on the board.
Rhyne Scott, Bell and Howard Chevrolet general manager, is chairing the board. He said his dealership has hired many of the auto-tech students in the past and he’s seen how productive CATS graduates are.
“They hit the ground running,” said Scott. “They know what they’re doing and they’re well trained.”
Lowe’s Community Relations Manager Kelly Persons called CATS a great showcase for Iredell-Statesville Schools from a corporate standpoint, alluding to the N.C. Education Lottery commercial featuring I-SS Superintendent Brady Johnson that’s been airing recently.
Judy Honeycutt, I-SS career and technical education director, expressed a belief that students are not aware of how lucrative some of the technical jobs CATS is training students for are.
“This has been the common core: ‘It’s okay for someone else’s child, but not mine,’” said Honeycutt. “We have made technical work to seem second-tier. But, we know how much those jobs pay.”
Brewer said transitioning students from CATS to MCC was crucial for the students’ success and the relevancy of the programs and college.
“The buzzword between high schools and the community colleges right now is seamless education process,” Brewer said. For example, Brewer said the firefighting program starting next year would mesh perfectly for students wishing to pursue fire science at MCC.
Brewer also said starting an agricultural program like the one at North Iredell High School would be beneficial, especially to people in the northern part of the county. Iredell County is the number one dairy and cattle-producing county in the state.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement