Guest Blog: How the Athens State Career Center is Driving Opportunity in North Alabama
For many years, 27 to be exact, I was a teacher. Every school needs a weird old history teacher, and I was it, even from my first day on the job. I’d always loved old things, pouring through encyclopedias that my grandmother brought home from her school library and prowling through my grandfather’s barns. I had two fantastic history teachers at Elkmont High that made me love the past even more.
I know now that I was destined to be a history teacher. I loved the period between the Missouri Compromise (in 1820) and the election of Abraham Lincoln (in 1860). And I would really like to believe that I had many students over the years who came to love the past, too. At least some told me then…and many have told me that long after graduation.
But I didn’t just read history books and lounge by the pool during summer breaks, I always worked. And those jobs were backbreaking. I worked landscaping and became a world champion shoveler and sod layer. We usually logged 12+ hour days, 6 days a week. I was THE pipe crew helping a contractor put in underground utilities and fire hydrants. (There was exactly one employee, me) I also did construction and demolition.
I did anything I could to make a dollar to offset my tuition as I went back to grad school. I ended up with a master’s in American History and a doctoral degree in Leadership and Professional Practice.
I loved school and became a doctor. My brother hated school and was three times smarter than me. (He became a very successful farmer) The longer I taught, I increasingly saw kids like my brother sitting in rows in front of me. Tons of potential and talents, but maybe not being plugged into the right situations and places. I tried to cultivate their interests and connect with them…because I wasn’t just that weird old history teacher, I had real world experience in the workforce.
Until recently, there really hasn’t been a place to send those students to get them help in entering the workforce. Thankfully, our state is working to change that with Workforce Alabama, a project to coordinate and grow workforce readiness. They have partnered with Athens State University to open The Career Center.
The Career Center will help with resume development, job placement services, educational and vocational training, and employment screening. It will be a place to launch students to new careers and relaunch those looking to redefine and grow their career goals.
Workforce Secretary Greg Reed noted that the Athens State Career Center will help “benefit residents and employers and will help provide necessary resources, direction, and assistance to enhance the area’s economy and development.”