By Carmen Rodgers
Elmore/Autauga News
Top Photo: Members of the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce along with faculty and staff at Autauga County Career and Technical Education Center.
The Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce hosted an Open House at the Autauga County Career and Technical Education Center on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
The open house offered students, parents and guardians a firsthand look at the programs offered at the tech center.
“This is partnership with Autauga County Schools and the Autauga County Technology Center. We are trying to bring the business and industry into the Technology Center and let them meet together,” President of the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce Patty VanderWal said.
The technology center offers a wide variety of programs to high school students in Autauga County. These programs will give students the hands-on experience needed to go straight into the workforce.
“This is an opportunity for student to see what careers are offered after they graduate,” she said. “Some of them may not go to a four-year college or two-year college. They may go straight to work, so the idea is to introduce them to the businesses and industries that are available.”
Tuesday’s open house was available to everyone in the community.
“The open house is for parents and the community to come out and see what the technology center has to offer and what they are doing for the workforce of tomorrow. It’s really a win/win for everybody. Hopefully they gained a lot of helpful information about all of the career opportunities that are out there,” VanderWal said.
While many in the community are familiar with area schools, not everyone is aware of the technology center and the programs offered there.
“I feel like the Technology Center is like a hidden gem,” VanderWal said. “People really don’t realize that it’s in the community. They do so much for the students that come through here every day, and you never know what an impact that will have on the community, so I always look at it like a hidden gem.”
Each day 1,100 students attend the tech center. These students are from high schools throughout Autauga County.
While there are a number of programs available at the technology center one of those is Fire and Emergency Services.
“We teach firefighting, emergency medical responders, emergency care provider and emergency medical,” instructor Devin Driver said.
According to Driver, there is a shortage in the field.
“You come into this class, you will learn things that you never thought you would apply to life,” Driver said. “You can take this course and learn a lot.”
Debra Evans is a junior who has taken the Fire and Emergency Services course, and she said she has learned a lot of useful lessons while attending the technology center.
“I really like the class. It has taught me a lot of responsibility, and given me leadership opportunities, and I am definitely taking this class again next year,” she said.
Not only will the skills Evans learns at the technology center benefit her, but those skills will also benefit the entire community.
“I plan to be a firefighter after I graduate,” Evans said.
Firefighters and other first responders are in high demand.
“We need these frontline workers and these first responders,” Driver said. “Hopefully we will continue to run a program like this. It’s costly but we have lots of people who are pouring their hearts into it, as well as financial support.”
While it may be costly, the return pays off tenfold because these students are the future workforce.
Another course offered at the technology center is Health Sciences. Students who enroll in this course can graduate and go straight to work in the medical field.
“They may go on to work in a hospital like Baptist, which will help pay for further education,” instructor Amy Cruz said.
The Autauga County Technology Center offers a diverse curriculum that aims to prepare students to enter the workforce, or for continued study in the post high school setting. The technology center offers courses that provide rigor and relevance to students by joining together school-based learning and career-related experiences. Autauga County’s Career and Technical Education Program follows the Career and Technical Education model.
“Our focus is that kids get where they need to be to prepare them for their career,” Principal Brock Dunn said. “It helps them figure out what they may or may not want to do in college.”
All of the courses at the tech center have been well received, but it is the health sciences class that has the highest enrollment.
“We have two classes, two instructors in that program,” Dunn said. “The others, they are all full. We run those with one instructor.”
The technology center also offers a couple of dual enrolment classes, which would allow students to graduate with credit hours.
“We have dual enrolment in welding and automotive. The rest are career based. The State of Alabama has multiple career pathways and our belief is that every student will end up in a career. We are trying to help them figure out what they want to do because no matter what path a student is on, eventually they will have to get a job.”
