File photo from ribbon cutting
The Todd County School System has a new CEO for its Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center as the new school year approaches and there’s a renewed focus on making high school students and adults prepared to enter the workforce.
Dr. Eric Keeling spoke to Todd Fiscal Court Friday and says Hopkinsville Community College will continue to have its programs—including the partnership with Novelis—in the facility on the campus of Todd County Central High School.
Keeling says the tech center is forming partnerships with employers to make high school students eligible for immediate placement with employers—with some welding students to begin with a temporary agency before graduation by leaving school at lunch during their last semester to head to work. They’ll become full-time employees at the industry where they work three months after graduation, according to Dr. Keeling.
Meanwhile, the facility is working to finalize a partnership with Fort Campbell Strong that would put 10 Fort Campbell soldiers transitioning into the workforce and up to about a dozen other adults from the community into a 36-week program preparing them for a job in the manufacturing sector.
Dr. Keeling says the focus is to be sure any student who goes through a program is ready for a real job and has documentation of his or her training.
He says Todd County officials are meeting with personnel on post regarding the proposed Fort Campbell partnership this week.
Listen to Dr. Keeling’s remarks below: