COLLEGE & CAREER ACADEMY
Downtown Gray’s Butler Hall was the site of the 15th annual Lieutenant Governor’s Business and Education Summit, hosted in partnership with the Jones County College and Career Academy.
The theme was connecting business and education to develop opportunities for the next generation of workers while keeping Georgia the best state to do business, a title it has held for nine years.
Hundreds of educators from across Georgia were in attendance, along with elected officials and industry leaders who spoke during several panel discussions.
Dr. Barbara Wall, director of Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education for the Georgia Department of Education, said the key to having a prepared workforce is to have businesses working with educators.
“For college and career academies to work to their fullest, we have to have partnerships with local businesses,” she said. “They have strong programs here and function in a team environment. It’s the same with the technical college.”
Erik Varnadoe of First Environmental thanked other business partners who are working with Jones County’s CCA.
“As a partner and father of four Greyhounds, I’m proud of our college and career academy,” he said. “It has provided a pipeline for us of new, future employees,” he said. “We want to develop careers for our employees and look forward to partnering for years to come.
James Beal, representing the office of Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, said they have long been supporters of CCA programs.
“This summit is to prove the success of the programs,” he said. “Laura Rackley and Jones County have been fantastic hosts.”
Duncan was unable to attend the summit due to a death in the family.
Student success stories
A panel of students were introduced by Kris Towers, who chairs the JCCCA board and is the manufacturing director of refining catalysts for BASF.
“I am honored to moderate this session because you’ll be hearing directly from students who have gone through the Jones County College and Career Academy,” he said.
Towers asked each of the panelists to describe their pathways, starting with Sadie Bowers, who is completing a CNA pathway with Lynn Haven Health and Rehabilitation.
“During my time here at JCHS, I participated in the CNA program and earned my certification as a nursing assistant in May of this year,” she said.
Towers asked Bowers about her career goals and how they’ve been impacted by the CNA program.
“My goal is to continue my education in the nursing field,” she said. “The CNA program has impacted me because it allowed me a head start in the nursing field. With nursing schools, a lot of them look for that experience and see the drive that you’re already into nursing.
“Working in a facility at such a young age has allowed me to truly decide if I want to go into nursing or not. I wasn’t really sure because of all the responsibilities, but since I”ve been working at Lynn Haven, I’ve loved it and loved working in geriatric care.”
Next was Jacob Fordham, who pursued the welding pathway and is working with Yancey Brothers.
“I started in the 11th grade, finishing in the 12th grade, and came out with certificates to site weld in any position,” he said. “Essentially I could’ve graduated and gotten a job welding somewhere with those certificates.”
Fordham was asked about his career aspirations and what advice he might have for future high school students.
“I’m doing an apprenticeship with Yancey Brothers,” he said. “For the first six months, I’m riding in the field with a technician learning how to fix equipment. Then I’ll spend six months back in the shop. My goal is to level up as a technician, and maybe down the road, I can take my boss’s job.
“As far as advice, if you can get into something like this, it could be very good for you. It’s not just a job; it’s a career and a life for you, something you can grow and build on.”
Bryce Harrison took the construction pathway and used the work-based learning program with C.W. Mathews Contracting Co.
“I have certification for plumbing, electrical, carpentry, basically all-around construction,” he said.
Harrison was asked how the partnership between the CCA, workbased learning and C.W. Mathews has impacted his decision about his career.
“It really got me out there to know what I like,” he said. “We took field trips to job sites, like a bridge that had just been put up. The construction pathway showed me the job and really made me want to do something with my hands instead of an office job.”
Towers asked Harrison what he’s doing now.
“I work at an asphalt plant full time,” he said. “I operate machinery most days and also fix things that are messed up.”
Lexi Kiser pursued welding and graduated in 2022, getting a job immediately out of high school with General Steel. “I only took welding my senior year, but I was certified in flat welding,” she said.
Towers asked Kiser how the welding pathway prepared her to work at General Steel.
“The welding program at JCHS prepared me in ways that nothing else out there,” she said. “I actually thought I wanted to be a teacher, didn’t really think about welding. I wanted to take class for fun, but I learned working with your hands and having a skilled trade is unbelievably amazing, so different than going to college to go teach. So I actually took it on as my career.
“At my job, I started out just welding on simple, small things. My certifications are through JCHS and Central Georgia Tech, but my company actually helped me get certified through the American Welding Society and certified through Georgia DOT, which lets me weld on any material produced in Georgia. We’re currently working on I-beams, which are the structures that hold together concrete.
“We’re very busy right now.”
MacKenzie Woodward took multiple multiple agriculture pathways and won the first-ever JC FLEX contest, which supports a business that continues to be successful.
Towers asked Woodward about her experience with the FLEX contest and how her business is doing.
“I established MGW Tack Company to provide quality, custom halters for the equine industry,” she said. “I established my business back in 2020 by looking at videos online at how to make halters because my horse was too small to fit the halters commercially available.
“It’s doing great now. JC FLEX impacted my business by allowing me to purchase a building to store everything in so it wasn’t all over the house and aggravating my parents.”
This is the first in a series of articles about education and industry from the Sept. 29 summit. Read next week’s edition for the next installment.
