Officials cut ribbon at Polk College and Career Academy
It’s been a project years in the making for Polk County College and Career Academy CEO Katie Thomas.
The vision to give students more options for their education came to fruition when the Polk School District completed their College and Career Academy campus in Cedartown, a multimillion dollar project to provide new classrooms and campuses at both high schools.
With all the final touches completed, school officials got a chance to show off the new facility at Cedartown High School with the help of state and local officials this afternoon.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Gretchen Corbin and a slew of local officials were on hand for the official ceremony to celebrate the opening of the Polk County College and Career Academy this afternoon.
Cagle said the College and Career Academy was an example of how local officials and educators are making an invest- ment into the future of the community with the new facility. He added that Polk County’s figures coming from the College and Career Academy: 33 different career pathways for students to choose, 431 students taking advantage of dual enrollment opportunities, five in the class of 2017 graduating with both a high school diploma and a associate’s degree from Georgia
“What we’re witnessing today is that when we set out as a state to do something, when we set out to do something as a community, we can make a huge impact and shape the future for generations to come,” Cagle said. “What we celebrate here today is not just the opening of a beautiful building, and I want to tell you it’s absolutely beautiful. But what this is doing is shaping the way that education is going to be delivered, that will be vary unique and very special.”
He added that Georgia businesses have 150,000 jobs open at the moment, and only 25 percent of those need four-year degrees from colleges and universities around the state, with more than 75 percent of those being involved in manufacturing or industry, which will only need a 2 year degree or certification program.
“We don’t want to create a one-size fits all educational system, that says that every single student has to go off and get a four-year degree, only to be saddled with $200,000 in debt and maybe making $ 30,000 or $ 35,000 a year,” he said. “We want to make sure that kids are able to on the front end explore the different career pathways that are available for them, and then choose what they are motivated and challenged by.”
He added that the College and Career Academy is also an example of how industry and education are working together to get the most of out workforce development for the future of the state.
Cagle, who released a book in 2016 titled “Education Unleashed,” announced earlier this year that he intended to run for the governor’s seat in 2018.
He was joined in this afternoon’s ceremony by Corbin, a Cedartown native who back in 2015 was appointed to serve as the Commissioner for the Technical College System of Georgia.
She said that without visionary educators and the community, the College and Career Academy wouldn’t be what it is today.
Corbin added too that without those same visionaries, she wouldn’t have reached her position either, and encouraged students in attendance to reach for bigger goals when they seek to look at life outside of Polk County.
“All of you students, if I can be Commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia, then I expect you to be lieutenant governor, the governor and the president,” she said. “And just as important I expect you to be the CEO of Floyd Medical Center out here. I expect you to be the new business owner in downtown Rockmart or Cedartown, or the new plant manager of Miura Boiler, or the plant manager at the HON Co.”