C.J. Yarbrough is a sophomore in high school but he already has a plan for his future.

The Wilson High School student wants to join the military after graduation. But first, he'll hone his mechanical skills at Allen Thornton Career Technical Center in Lauderdale County. He figures those skills will come in handy in the military.

"I'd never been here to this center before, and the auto mechanics program really got my attention," Yarbrough said. "I immediately loved it, and I'll be taking the class next trimester. I know I want to do something in that field."

Yarbrough was among the hundreds of high school students from throughout the Lauderdale County school system who took part in a recent tour of the center. Annual tours in February allow students to have a look at the center and the programs offered there. February is nationally designated as Career Technical Education Month.

The Lauderdale district is unique in that it operates on a trimester system that allows students to take more elective courses than in a traditional two-semester system. That means students have more opportunities to take skill-based classes offered at the technology center.

The Lauderdale system isn't alone in its efforts to bring more attention to courses that prepare students for the work force, or in many cases, a two-year college program that extends on what they've learned in high school.

Other school districts in northwest Alabama are making the same push, primarily through guidance counselors whose responsibility it is to inform students of their options, both academically and vocationally.


An image boost
Such programs that offer everything from autobody to cosmetology to high-tech robotics got a statewide image boost in 2000, when the Alabama Department of Education asked that they no longer be called vocational or trade schools. And, it wasn't just a matter of semantics. The change came about to more accurately reflect the changing face of the programs offered. Because jobs were becoming more specialized and the skilled work force needed more diversely trained employees, the programs were forced to change with the times, too. Allen Thornton dropped the word vocational and became the Allen Thornton Career Technical Center.

Franklin County's area vocational center became the Franklin County Career Technical Center and the Muscle Shoals program dropped the title of vocational school and changed to the Muscle Shoals Center for Technology.

In every case, with every center, more than the name changed as technology began to take on a strong presence in most course offerings.

According to area directors, this decade has brought about changes in skills programs that will not only ensure employment for students who are trained in those areas but will provide some of the top salaries in the region.

"Ninety-five percent of people are motivated by money and some of these highly specialized (skill requiring) jobs pay extremely well," said Roger Garner, a former Allen Thornton instructor now directing the welding program at Northwest-Shoals Community College.

"In the area of welding, the placement opportunities are 100 percent if a student has learned the trade well and passed the certification test. I tell my students that most of the welders in this area who do specialized welding jobs make an average of $40,000 a year, not bad money for a kid right out of school. Heck, it's good money for any age."

Despite the good pay, there's still sometimes a breakdown between high school campuses and career technical programs that can be traced back to community perception.

Diane Harris, guidance counselor for Allen Thornton, said enrollment is steady at the school, with about 850 students per year taking classes. Still, she's aware of the perception that exists with some people who view career technical classes as inferior to academic offerings on the high school campuses.


Changing mindsets
"We continue to try to change the mindset of people regarding vocational-type courses. We're not the grease monkey mechanics but have state-of-the-art equipment in the shops, like in welding and autobody," Harris said. "We get pretty good support from the high school guidance counselors but, like in anything else, some really promote us and others don't."

She said the danger of not promoting the vocational options for students is that ultimately, "some of the kids are being routed toward a four-year college degree when they'd have a better chance for success by taking our courses."

Becky King, a Wilson High School guidance counselor, accompanied a group of students to the center during a tour. She stresses to the students that out of the 13 courses being offered at Allen Thornton, there's something for everyone and that, "the job links in the Florence area are skill-related."

"I always tell the students about the center because they need to know all their options, and there's always a skill to be learned.

"That holds true for everyone," she said.

Wilson sophomore Katelyn Bates was amazed at instructor Michelle Cabler's computer technology class and how it integrated photography, which is one of her passions.

"I love working on those kinds of projects like PowerPoint presentations that incorporate photos," she said.

"I'll definitely be signing up for this class. She showed us a ton of things she teaches in that class. It'll be awesome to know how to do all that."

While funding career technical programs isn't always priority for school districts, some systems have taken giant leaps - some would call it a risk - toward increasing their career technical options. Florence City Schools is one such district.

Jeanette Custer, the career tech administrator, said support at the top makes all the difference.


New tech center
When the city's two high schools consolidated nearly four years ago, a new career technical wing was added at the Florence High School campus with the idea of bringing all the programs to one place for 10th- through 12th-graders.

The commitment was big, with a 22,000-square-foot addition and a price tag of $2.5 million.

"We built the facility with digital everything in mind because our vision was to better meet the needs of the work force," Custer said.

"We knew, too, that our career technical curriculum would continue to integrate heavily into the academic curriculum. There's lots of science and math involved in these courses and everything is very high-tech now. A change in mindset has happened gradually. Most of our kids go on to a four-year college."

There are plans to expand facilities on the Florence High School campus. The district wants to add a new culinary center to house the program that began this school year.

"No one can stand still in this area of education because technology changes too quickly," Custer said.

"You either move forward or you're going backward. We know we're competing with everything else the school offers. Still, 57 percent of kids in high school and 69 percent of our students at the Florence Freshman Center are taking at least one career tech course."

The Muscle Shoals program serves not only students in its district, but those from Deshler and Sheffield high schools as well as some Colbert County students.

The center has gained enrollment, especially in welding classes since National Alabama Inc. announced it would open it's railcar company in western Colbert County.


Change in thinking
The center's guidance counselor, Elesia Crosswhite, said she's seen a change in the community's thinking toward career technical education.

"We're pretty much a blue-collar community, and parents are seeing that their kids can get jobs with this training," she said.

"As a community, we have to stop thinking that technical education isn't a viable option. The fact is, we have all kinds of kids in our programs from the class valedictorians to students in special education programs who discover their skills while in our program.

"We have something to offer all kids, from the future doctors to hairdressers to welders and engineers."

Enrollment has also increased in the past four years at the Franklin County Career Technical Center, said director Orval Seay. More growth is expected when the center adds welding to its offerings.

He said career technical education has gone through cycles like any aspect of education.

"We've been through that cycle where people insisted their children could only be (four-year) college material, but they saw it didn't work out and now more people are seeing that there are good jobs in these vocational areas, good paying jobs at that."

One of the strongest of the five programs offered at the center is autobody/collision repair. Students completing the program and getting additional training from a two-year-program can earn up to $22 per hour, Seay said.

In Colbert County, some courses are offered on the three high school campuses but there are plans for a center that could be built within the next year, said Steve Stayton, director of the county's career technical education program.

The facility will be located in the Colbert Heights area, a central location for the three county high schools.

Stayton said the validity of the district's programs is in enrollment numbers. Though the district has lost enrollment the past decade, the career technical classes have continued to thrive.

With the new center will come the addition of three classes: welding, cosmetology and health science.

"It's all about economic development, and we're training these kids to be successful and contribute to the economy," Stayton said.

"We educate about a third of the (high school) student population in the district and I only see the programs growing."

Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 740-5735 or lisa.singleton-rickman@timesdaily.com