Barren County High School turns students into employees through various career programs
Turning students into employees…
High school students in South Central Kentucky are getting a head start at a career before they even graduate.
Barren County High School is home to a brand-new career center that offers a variety of programs to give students the hands-on-skills they need to start a career.
Each day the career center at Barren County High School welcomes buses of students from seven different school districts.
Students have the chance to learn a variety of skill sets… from 3-D printing in Engineering & Design, cooking up a tasty meal in Culinary Arts, learning how to care for patients in Health Science, and finally learning how to develop apps in Computer Science & Information Technology.
There is a program for everyone.
“It’s pretty neat to see kids coding in one room and across the hall they are talking about human body tissue and building models of the human body. Down the hall they are learning how to make a casserole and then another few steps an engineering lab and across the hall they are talking about Shakespeare. It’s pretty neat to all be under one roof.” says Brad Johnson, the Principal of BCHS.
The newest class is the called, Interapt Skills, and is a part of the Computer Science and Information Technology program.
“Barren County Interapt Skills is a training opportunity that is very unique and we are very blessed as a community to have it.” says Amy Irwin, the Assistant Principal and the Barren County College & Career Development Coordinator.
The Interapt Skills class teaches students how to develop and maintain applications for Apple products.
But the class isn’t just available to high school students, adults were given the idea to enroll as well.
Its an opportunity 21-year-old, college graduate, Alex Richardson just couldn’t pass up.
“It just sounded like a great opportunity like I couldn’t pass it down. I mean people kind of laid out this path for people to take and there wasn’t any road blocks. It didn’t sound like there were any limitations. It was just like ‘hey we have got this opportunity here. Take it and run with it and see what you can do with it.’ I couldn’t turn that down. It sounded too good to be true. It certainly has panned out great so far.” says Alex Richardson.
“It’s hope. What we are doing is educating and we are not just educating, but we are trying to give opportunities after that education and in that you can see the hope on individuals faces in the room. For our adults, there is a lot of displaced workers in that room. They know they are getting skills that are in high demand and are going to be in high demand for years to come.” say Justin Browning, the Project Manager for the Interapt Skills class.
