Lowndes County School District second-year students who take culinary arts and welding classes at the Career Technology Center now have the ability to take dual-enrollment and dual-credit classes thanks to an agreement with East Mississippi Community College.
Dual-enrollment, dual-credit classes give students an opportunity to take a class when they are in high school and earn credit at their school and at the partner college or university.
In July, the LCSD School Board approved the agreement. EMCC finalized approval of the agreement in August, setting the stage for students at the CTC to get a head start on their college education.
Susan McClelland, the director of the CTC, said she is excited students have more dual-credit opportunities, especially ones that will enable them to earn valuable skills that will pave the way to a future career.
“We could not be happier to have some dual-enrollment, dual-credit opportunities for our students,” McClelland said. “It’s something (Superintendent) Dr. (Sam) Allison and I have been working on for the past five years to try to get this in place. We’re thrilled to offer those opportunities in welding and in culinary arts for this school year.”
McClelland said any LCSD student can have two dual-enrollment, dual-credit classes that are paid for by the district. If students already have used their two dual-enrollment, dual-credit classes and still would like to take advantage of the agreement, McClelland said the cost for the classes is only $45, which she said is a savings of hundreds of dollars.
“I’m so thankful all of my students’ hard work will allow them to earn college credit while working on their high school diploma requirements,” said Victoria Richardson, the culinary arts instructor at the CTC.
“I’m thankful to East Mississippi Community College for navigating this new journey with myself and other career tech instructors, and I hope others will also be able to join in the future.”
Jordan Hawkins, the welding instructor at the CTC, has had several students go through his program and earn full-time welding jobs, some even when they were still in high school. He encourages his students to take advantage of the dual-credit agreement.
“Their second year at the CTC is basically their first year at EMCC welding school, so we’re just officially giving them credit for something they have already completed, and they’re already earning their national credential before they graduate,” Hawkins said.
McClelland said she is examining possibilities to offer additional dual-credit opportunities in other classes. She said the CTC’s cosmetology program already has an articulation agreement with EMCC and with Vaughn’s Beauty School in Aberdeen.
According to the last placement report from the 2022-2023 school year, McClelland said 81% of students who complete two years at the CTC and graduate go on to some type of post-secondary education. She said the dual-credit, dual-enrollment agreement fits perfectly with the needs of students.
“We just want to offer the most that we can to our students,” McClelland said. “It’s a bridge. It’s building a bridge for high school students who are here and getting the information to feed into EMCC, if that is what they desire, and already have a leg up.”
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