Turner Co. steering committee plans College Career Academy

ASHBURN, Ga. – The Turner County Steering Committee is applying for a 3 million dollar grant to create a College Career Academy for its high school and middle school students, to better prepare them for the workforce.

“We’re always trying to get kids set up for post secondary. We want to make sure they have a plan once they graduate from high school,” said Jason Clark, Turner County High School principal.

But, why are College Career Academies so important?

“College career academies have a lot of partnerships, partnerships with local businesses in the industry, partnerships with post secondary institutions,” said Craig Matthews, Turner County School Superintendent.

Which in term could…

“Provide more opportunities for the student that’s in our programs,” said Matthews.

If awarded this grant students of Turner County High School and Middle School would be able to explore more career paths through a system called “you science.”

“A science activity, where they go on and do games and those games kind of help spearhead exploratory areas they want to do post secondary,” said Clark.

Creating a College Career Academy would give Turner County Students a head start on their dream.

“The courses that we offer will all be part of pathways and these pathways are specific to the healthcare industry, the ag industry, the construction industry, manufacturing industry,” said Matthews.

According to Turner County Principal Jason Clark 60 percent of Turner graduates stay in Turner County.

“So if 60 percent of our kids that graduate are staying in the community, we need to serve those community need in that process,” said Clark.

Cameron Sanders reporting.

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