Industry giants including The Boeing Company, BP Amoco, Copeland, Delphi, General Electric, NOVA, 3M, Inc, Wolverine Tube, and Worthington Steel are committing their resources and support for this exciting, new program. The program will contribute to the expansion of the local pool of skilled, workplace ready technicians to fill the high tech positions required by business and industry in our community. In August of 1999, fifteen seniors from Austin, Danville, Decatur, Falkville, and West Morgan High Schools enrolled in this model program. The enrollment included a commitment to remain in the program for the entire 1999-2000 academic year and to provide their own transportation to and from Calhoun Community College. For the Fall Semester, the class schedule for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday includes Economics and Environmental Science.
College credit is issued as well as credit toward the high school diploma.
On Tuesday and Thursday, the business and industry partners provide practicum sessions where the students participate in exercises to develop workplace skills. Some of the practicum exercises are conducted at the partner industry workplace on real problems. The participating students were evaluated by the ACT Work Keys Assessment Instrument at the end of the Fall Semester. The assessment will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the practicum sessions among other things. Some of the partner industries have job profiles which indicate skills crucial to perform effectively in technical positions in their respective business or industry.