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September 2, 2010
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Career Academy is important
Published October 21, 2009
I hope you saw Stephen Milligan’s front-page story Sunday on the new life science wing at Walton Career Academy.
The ribbon-cutting last week was a great day for Walton County, and I was proud to be there to see it. State and local officials joined school leaders to christen this exciting new facility.
The state, the Career Academy and Athens Technical College have teamed to put together a biology lab, medical labs and training programs for paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
After all the officials cut the ribbon, people milled about the building, looking at all the displays that show how students will get a hands-on education they might not get elsewhere.
Even the lieutenant governor was impressed. By all accounts, Casey Cagle is a big supporter of career academies, and it seems Walton County’s must be as good as any other.
Cagle and several local leaders noted the Career Academy will help Walton County develop the workforce necessary to fill high-tech jobs we’ll rely on in the future.
People I talk with believe we are close to having a first tenant for the four-county high-tech industrial park — a potential boon for our area.
Walton Career Academy, and the quality students it produces, is a big reason. Those businesses won’t come without a highly skilled workforce.
But career academies in general are in danger, given the recession.
That’s scary, because Cagle said 80 percent of jobs in the future will need some technical training.
“We need to provide more technical training to our kids and provide a pathway to a career to every student,” he said. “This is the future here. We're changing lives.”
The county government, led by Kevin Little, is to be commended for its investment in the Walton Career Academy.
Superintendent Gary Hobbs and the academy’s chief executive, Mark Peevy, have done a good job as well in getting the pieces in place to make this a reality.
I hope local leaders will continue to realize the benefit to our county that Walton Career Academy offers.
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