Chattahoochee County School District receives grant for College and Career Academy application

When he applied to become superintendent of the Chattahoochee County School District last year, among the reasons David McCurry, then principal of Cairo High School, was attracted to the job is the system's motto:

"Cradle to Career."

The district's lone elementary school comprises a daycare center, where the youngest child was 10 weeks old when McCurry interviewed, he told a standing-room-only gathering of more than 70 local and state leaders Thursday in ChattCo's combined high school and middle school media center.

"So literally cradle," he said, "but now we're looking at the idea of literally career."

Thanks to the $10,000 check AT&T Georgia presented, ChattCo will receive professional training and coaching from consultant Thomas Suddreth, director of the Georgia office of Ford Next Generation Learning, who will guide local leaders through 6-9 months of analyzing the needs and envisioning solutions for the four-county area of Chattahoochee, Marion, Stewart and Webster, culminating in an application to become one of Georgia's College and Career Academies.

The deadline for the next round of applications is September 2016. If the Technical College System of Georgia approves the application by December 2016, this proposed regional academy would be eligible to receive as much as $3 million in bonds for construction and $150,000 in cash for start-up costs.

And if the exploration process that was launched Thursday becomes reality, it would join the state's other 34 College and Career Academies that have been approved during the past nine years. These specialized charter schools partner with higher education institutions and businesses to improve workforce development.

College and Career Academies allow students to graduate from high school with associate degrees and industry certifications -- and without debt -- so they can get a head start on their postsecondary academic and vocational paths.

The academy closest to Columbus is THINC, the one that opened last month in Troup County. Two years ago, McCurry was part of the successful application that created the Cairo High School College and Career Academy, which is scheduled to open next school year. Now, he wants to help bring that possibility to ChattCo and the surrounding counties.

Companies could set up centers in the academy's labs, McCurry explained before Thursday's event, "and have one of their technicians come in and train students there as a career pathway, so, when they graduate, they are ready to go."

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who has spearheaded this statewide initiative, was part of the panel discussion in ChattCo's media center, which also featured state superintendent Richard Woods.

"We've got to make sure our kids have every opportunity that we can deliver to them to succeed in life," Cagle said. "So giving them the skills that are necessary to compete in the 21st Century economy is critical, and that's what the College and Career Academies are all about."

Jamie Loyd, vice president for economic development at Columbus Technical College, showed the need for such an academy in the four-county area by offering the following statistics:

The four-county area's labor force has declined in size by 1.1 percent the past 10 years while the state's has increased by 3.5 percent.

Only 22 percent of the four-county area's adult population has a high school diploma or a GED, and only 16 percent has a four-year degree or more.

More than 72 percent of the residents work outside of the four-county area.

Jim Sims, principal of Chattahoochee County Middle and High School, summed up the numbers with these words, "Our kids are hungry, and they need the opportunity. If we can be a part of this and give them exposure to the things they need, it's just going to be phenomenal."

They're off to a good start, according to Jenny Williams, director of the state's Office of College and Career Transitions, which screens the academy applications for the Technical College System of Georgia. After the event, she gestured toward the departing crowd and said, "This is very impressive. I go to a lot of communities, and even larger communities don't have a turnout like this."

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Chattahoochee County School District receives grant for College and Career Academy application ."