“What do you want to do as a career?” That’s a question students begin asking themselves as they get into high school and start looking forward to graduation. High school students in Franklin City Public Schools have numerous options; they can even “try on” a career prior to graduation.
Last year, the school district repurposed a middle school to open the J.P. King Jr. Career and Technical Academy. The district offers career training in marketing, business, nursing, culinary arts, early childhood education, criminal justice, JROTC and building trades.
“Next year we’re adding cosmetology and barbering,” said Director of CTE Programs Crystal Phillips. “I think the year after that, we're also adding medical assistance and a robotic STEM program.” Her goal is add cybersecurity in year three, she said.
Division Superintendent Carlton Carter said the school system wants to equip students for the future, whatever their path may be.
“We know that every child is not designed for a four-year institution,” he said, “so the goal here is to make sure that when kids walk across the stage and graduate their senior year, they have a high school diploma in one hand and an industry certification in the other.”
All the programs offer skills-based, hands-on learning opportunities. For example, in addition to cooking in their state-of-the-art kitchen classroom, culinary arts students also get real-world experience in local restaurants. One long-range vision for the program is to repurpose the school’s cafeteria and kitchen into a cafe run by students.
Culinary Arts Teacher Kyle Cousins, a 1997 graduate of Franklin High School, said the skills students learn will prepare them for a variety of career opportunities. “It’s a five-year certification,” he said, “and they can take that wherever they want—restaurant, healthcare, hospitality—whatever has to do with food service. They’ll have industry certification, training and a diploma to go with it.”
Cousins had an extensive career in food service before deciding to teach, running several local restaurants and serving as executive chef and director for the Airfield Conference Center in Wakefield. He said he enjoys passing on his knowledge to students and watching them grow.
One of his students who graduated last year was selected to attend a culinary institute at the Inn at Little Washington in Irvington, Virginia, a three-star Michelin facility. After taking some initial college classes, the student will head to the institute this month.
“He’s on a full scholarship,” Cousins said. “It’s not going to cost him anything. To me, that sets the tone of what we can do as a school.”
An emerging workforce that is trained and ready to begin their careers also benefits the local region.
“Franklin City Public Schools serves a largely disadvantaged community,” Carter said. “Employers have told us they need skilled workers—automobile mechanics, nursing, business, culinary arts — so we offer these programs to give students a clear path to college or directly into the workforce, already certified and trained. We’re also hoping the CTE Center encourages students to reinvest in the community instead of leaving and never coming back.”
Kemonte Flythe, a senior, said he has found the building trades courses to be the most interesting. He has helped build a dog house and a shed, and he is currently working on a design for his future house. He said his ultimate career goal is to own a restaurant.
Anthony Brown, also a senior, said he has enjoyed the classes in marketing and criminal justice. “In criminal justice, we’re touring the police station, and we’re doing live crime scenes in the room,” he said.
Instead of going into debt, especially if they are not interested in college, many students are choosing to go to work directly after high school.
“Wherein some students, after graduating from college, will start at maybe 22, 23 (years old), at 18,students can start in building that employment capacity and start making a life for themselves four years sooner,” Phillips said.
