New program aims to connect industry and education

Patrick Camp, The Cullman Times, Ala.
Updated ·3 min read
1

Mar. 23—A budding partnership will create more direct pathways from the classroom to the workplace for students in both the city and county school systems.

That collaboration: Representatives from North AlabamaWorks sat down to discuss its Modern Manufacturing program with Cullman County education officials Wednesday, March 20.

The program launched in 2021 in an effort to bridge the gap between education providers and their local industries. Former Cullman County Career Technical Education Director Billy Troutman now works as the program's project manager. Knowing the importance of building community partnerships, Troutman said this program created a unique opportunity for local industries to be directly involved in the curriculum students received through the Modern Manufacturing program.

"All career tech people know this, but we want businesses and industries to be involved," Troutman said. "We've heard it a billion times, but we want them to be involved on another level. A more intimate level where they can have a say in the programs and they are evident in the programs. They can influence the curriculum, especially in the labs, to reflect the industries in that community. They are also able to make those students aware of the opportunities they have in manufacturing."

Troutman said the program not only acts as a liaison between educators and industries but also provides financial support for teacher salaries and equipment, leaving local school systems free to offer more funding to its other career technical programs.

After the pilot program in four North Alabama high schools — Guntersville, Hartselle, Limestone County Career Technical Center and Madison County Career Technical Center — Troutman said they have been able make several hefty equipment purchases that schools may not have otherwise been able to afford.

For example, he said, during the last year he has used roughly $25,000 to purchase plastic injection molding trainers for Limestone County students. He said two $40,000 forklift simulators have also been purchased and believed another had been approved for Cullman County students.

Similar to the way Limestone County had already had a program and facility in place thanks to its partnership with Mazda Toyota, Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette said other programs were currently available at the Cullman Area Career Technical Academy. Apart from some minor tweaks to the curriculum, the Modern Manufacturing program would mostly be a lateral transition and a name change. However, he said it would offer students a few extra benefits which are not available through the current program.

"This is going to allow us to have more credentialing than what we currently have, which is just going to better prepare our kids to walk into jobs right out of high school," Barnette said.

Cullman City Schools Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff also said this partnership came at an opportune time as the district has been preparing a nearly 30,000-square-foot addition to Cullman High School, which will be reserved for career technical programs. Kallhoff said the bottom floor included 5,000 square feet reserved for future growth, which provided the perfect space to house the Modern Manufacturing program.

"The timing of this couldn't have been more perfect because we have the whole bottom floor of this building that we knew, career-tech wise, that we wanted to do there," Kallhoff said. "We're excited for that and to have that on our campus to play our part to help the local workforce and to prepare our kids to be marketable."

Barnette said the program is scheduled to be available for CATA students at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year and Kallhoff said it should be available to CHS students once the new facility — which is currently in the design stages — is completed.