College and Career Academy: Six years of providing unique opportunities

The on-site Greene College and Career Academy staff held an end-of-year meeting June 6 at Greene County High School.

Since the Fall of 2018, The Greene College and Career Academy (GCCA) has been an academic resource for students, assisting them in preparing for post-graduation futures. Located on South Main Street, the academy operates inside Greene County High School (GCHS) and is one of 45 academies of its kind in the state.

In the program, students can choose from 13 pathways, including culinary, automobile repair, construction, welding and more. Dual-enrollment courses are also offered for students interested in attending college after graduation.

As chairman of the GCCA, Larry Kludt believes the $3.8 million in renovations made to the academy’s portion of the school have helped the program to thrive.

“We bought new equipment, refurbished the labs and built what we call a career center,” he said. “The career center is where the students meet with employers in the area.”

According to Kludt, students partner with mentors from the area who volunteer to guide them through their high school education. The GCCA is the only career academy in the state to provide such mentorships.

“[The volunteers] meet with students on about a monthly basis to develop a career plan for them and commit to staying with the student for four years,” he said. “Each year, we have about 30 coaches working at each class level.”

Kludt believes Lake Country partners are vital to the program because of the volunteer work they provide.

“Part of the reason we can do it is because we have such a large population of retired people who feel the need to give back,” he said. “They commit for four years before they even start.”

Sports Medicine is one of multiple pathways that students can take at the GCCA. As part of their studies, students often assist high school athletes.

The dual-enrollment program at the GCCA is in direct partnership with Athens Technical College. Twelve of the most recent graduates involved in the GCCA’s dual enrollment program will attend the technical college in the fall.

“Some of those students can get into Athens Tech at the second-year level based on the courses they have taken at our academy,” Kludt said. “They can go to other community colleges, but there’s a little more of a guarantee that their credits will be accepted at Athens Tech.”

According to Kludt, GCHS has 40 seniors who have “taken some form of dual enrollment.” These students have also completed all three years of the dual-enrollment program at the school.

“Each of those has graduated, which is a big deal in any high school, but particularly our high school,” he said. “So, we’re pretty proud of that.”

Newly appointed GCHS principal John Ellenburg has been the CEO of Greene College and Career Academy for approximately seven years.

He believes that having such programs for students is essential for helping them find career pathways early in life and has become the future of high school education.

“We work with every student to develop those job readiness skills and industry certification so that students are best prepared to enter the workforce,” Ellenburg said.

GCCA’s Culinary students often practice cooking during the school year. They use the kitchen approximately two or three times weekly.

According to Ellenburg, with the variety of career areas students can choose from, “three courses in the same subject area” make a pathway complete.

“They earn industry certificates while taking those courses,” he said. “So students in automotive [for example], instead of taking a regular test at the end of it for the school system or the Department of Education, they are taking the automobile service excellence exam.”

As a part of the pathway participation, students have found opportunities to give back to the community with their educational experiences.

With the automotive section of the GCCA, students have learned how to repair vehicles for the community. Students involved have also worked on multiple projects throughout the summer, and many individuals often stop by for assistance at the GCCA’s designated vehicle repair workshop.

“We’ll have like retirees or someone who is disabled where they need a vehicle,” Ellenburg said. “So, if a vehicle is broken down, we will bring them in.”

The culinary pathway is another student career option that has encouraged community service opportunities. Students use a kitchen inside the school to practice their skills “two to three times a week.”

Culinary students can practice cooking with utilities, such as steamers, bread mixers and even an $18,000 brick oven. Many culinary students have found post-graduation opportunities in the area, including Reynolds Lake Oconee and Ritz-Carlton. In this case, multiple types of cookware are available for students to use in these circumstances.

“So, when they go and work at Reynolds or Ritz or any of these restaurants that have a brick oven or a bread bakery, they utilize it,” Ellenburg said. “So, it’s the same type of cook grills that you find anywhere.”

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