Junior Cold Springs student John Campbell practicing the art of welding.
If you come here, we're giving you tools. No matter where you want to take it, this is a great place to start."CATA Principal Billy Troutman
CULLMAN – You might not be familiar with the Cullman Area Technology Academy (CATA), but you should be. Perhaps you are more familiar with its earlier name still often used around town: the Cullman Area Career Center. Located at 17640 Highway 31 N, near Vinemont, this Cullman County Board of Education (CCBOE) facility offers 18 different career training programs in a wide range of fields, developing county and city high school students into effective members of the workforce. Graduates are prepared to go right to work with industry-accepted occupational credentials, or pursue higher education with a major head start. Some students will even graduate high school with an associate degree under their belts and a guaranteed job offer waiting for them.
Y'all Come!
On Thursday, Feb. 16 from 5-7 p.m., CATA will celebrate Alabama State Career/Technical Education Month by hosting an open house. Area ninth and 10th graders and their families are strongly encouraged to attend, but it's not just for them. Anyone in Cullman County who is interested in seeing what the CCBOE is doing there is invited to drop by. Refreshments will be served, and staff will be on hand to talk with visitors about the array of programs and opportunities CATA offers.
CATA Principal Billy Troutman said, "We hope to have a big turnout, and the whole purpose is just to highlight the programs that we have here on campus."
He shared in some detail the kinds of things he hopes to show students, parents and the community about CATA, focusing on three points: career and technical programs, the Fast Track to Industry program and virtual school.
Career and technical programs
CATA offers 18 career/technical programs, including:
- Agriscience
- Automotive Service
- Building Construction
- Business/Marketing
- Collision Repair
- Cosmetology
- Culinary Arts
- Drafting
- Electrical Technology
- Engineering
- Family and Consumer Science
- Health Science
- Horticulture/Landscape Design
- HVAC Repair
- JROTC
- Mechatronics (including robotics)
- Precision Machining
- Welding
"The great thing about it," Troutman explained, "is that the potential is there for employment. All of our students are going to have the opportunity to earn a credential. I'm not talking about good grades on a report card; if you're in the HVAC program, you're going to leave here with a refrigerant license. The welding kids have a chance to leave here with AWS certification. The culinary arts kids can leave here with ServeSafe certification. The health science kids can actually leave here with a CNA license, and so on. They're leaving here with industry-recognized credentials."
Most CATA programs have counterparts at Wallace State. If a student chooses to apply his or her CATA credentials toward advanced studies, the college will give them credit for the courses they have already taken; meaning that they will start college with credit hours already on their records, allowing them to skip certain classes and graduate sooner.
Fast Track to Industry
"We'll talk about not only our career/tech programs," said Troutman, "but also the Fast Track to Industry program that's going on down at Wallace. There are some great opportunities for kids to finish up their career/tech programs in high school, but also the opportunity to get that associate degree, if they choose to do so. In the Fast Track to Industry, students also have the opportunity to apprentice out with some of the industry. We have apprentices at REHAU, Topre and some of the big corporations, and students are actually getting paid to go to work. The apprenticeships are kind of neat, because there will be a job offer upon completion of school."
For more on the Fast Track program and the working relationship between CCBOE and Wallace State, see our article at http://cullmansense.com/articles/2016/11/17/cullman-county-schoolswallace-state-dual-enrollment-program-showcased-national.
Virtual school
Troutman also spoke about a relatively new program offered through CCBOE: the virtual school. The program is state-mandated, and will allow certain students to do most of their day-to-day classes from home.
"We do have a virtual school offering in place here. It is certainly non-traditional as school goes, about as non-traditional as it gets. School is different for everybody, and some folks would rather not come to school. Virtual school allows them to take their academic classes, even electives, through ACCESS ("Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students Statewide," an online educational program of the Alabama State Board of Education). It doesn't cost the kids anything. They log onto the curriculum, they do the work, they progress through the activities; and the only time they have to come to a campus is if they take a test."
Virtual school and ACCESS are not for lazy students who don't want to get up and come to school. Those who wish to participate must undergo an application and review procedure that will look at their GPA, as well as disciplinary and attendance history in the system.
"It's not about intelligence," Troutman explained, "it's about self-motivation, being self-directed, and work ethic. If a student does not have those things, they will not be successful. If you're in school six hours a day, you're going to be in front of the computer six hours a day."
The final word on CATA
Troutman is proud of his school, and excited about what CATA has to offer.
In concluding the interview, he stated, "I think the biggest thing we offer right here is tools for life, and I really mean that. No matter what happens, everybody goes to work. Some people are going to quit school and enter the workforce. Some are going to enter the workforce with a high school diploma. Some are going to get college degrees, master's degrees. Some are going to be nuclear physicists with education that's unfathomable. But sooner or later, they're going to go to work. If you come here, we're giving you tools. No matter where you want to take it, this is a great place to start."
At a glance:
What: Cullman Area Technology Academy Open House
When: Thursday, Feb 16, from 5-7 p.m.
Where: At the CATA facility/Career Center, 17640 Highway 31 N, Cullman (near Vinemont)
For more information, call 256-734-7740 or 256-734-7741, or visit http://cacc.ccboe.org.
Find CATA on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cataschool/.
Copyright 2017 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
