School district awarded technology grant

MUSCLE SHOALS - The Muscle Shoals school district has the means to fund a distance learning lab that will be the first of its kind in the state, thanks to a Career and Technical Education 21st Century Classroom Grant.

The $85,000 grant will fund the lab at the Muscle Shoals Center for Technology. It will include two big screen monitors, Web cameras, 25 laptop computers and a monitoring system.

According to the center's director, Gary Dan Williams, the lab, which is scheduled to be in place by Christmas, can be used to link with other career and technical programs, to offer adult career and technical courses through distance education, to offer credit recovery for high school students and offer dual enrollment courses for students as well as adults through post-secondary schools. The lab also will have the capability of being used by businesses and industries for training purposes.

Additional uses for the lab include remediation for career technical students who have not passed a portion of the Alabama High School Graduation Exam and to link with other schools throughout the region for distance learning courses.

The Muscle Shoals Center's laboratory will be among the first of its kind in the state to be placed in a career technical facility. Comparable facilities, called ACCESS labs, have been placed in the high schools for the past four years through distance learning.

Williams said among his goals for the lab is to offer at least one career technical course through distance learning to other school districts around the state.

"Right now there are only two courses being offered through distance learning, but we'll be developing our course soon," he said. "We want to be a leader in the state and this is an initiative that helps us move in that direction. When the Center moves to the high school campus, the lab will be moved as well. We plan on using the lab to its fullest potential."

Elesia Crosswhite, guidance counselor at the center, said the new lab is just part of the changing face of career technical education.

"All our classrooms should look like this lab," she said. "It will offer so many opportunities for our students and the community. Every industry is tied to computers these days and we've got to have the tools to train students for that environment."

For Williams, the goal is putting the lab to constant use.

"I want the lab to be used all day and into the evening," Williams said. "I want people to see that we're here for not only the students but the whole community."

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