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Follow up to 'An Amazing Night,' a turning point in Adair History City Council votes unanimously for resolution requesting $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds, joining Adair County Fiscal Court in the joint request. The meeting was a quiet, almost routine affair, but equally important. Both city and county meetings following what Superintendent Alan W. Reed called, "An Amazing Night - A Turning Point in Adair County history," when 61 people turned out December 10, 2013, to give unanimous support to the ATC/Career Readiness Center. Council votes 5-0 to approve application. With all five councillors present, Robert Flowers, Charles Grimsley, June Parson, Ron Rogers voting to affirm a motion to do so by Robert Flowers, seconded by Linda Waggener Click on headline for complete story with photo(s) By Ed Waggener The Columbia City Council met in a brief session with Mayor Mark D. Harris presiding, and City Clerk Rhonda Loy recording the session, Wednesday morning, December 18, 2013, to finish the final item of local business for the funding of the new Satellite campus for Adair County High School for the Welding and Metal Fabrication with DOT certification. On a motion by Councillor Robert Flowers, with a Second by Councillor Linda Waggener, the council unanimously voted to adopt Resolution 2013-07: A Resolution authorizing Mayor Mark Harris, in his capacity as Mayor, to enter into and file a joint application to be submitted to the Governor's Department for Local Government for FY 2013 Community Development Block Grant - Economic Development Non-Traditional program grant funds for Adair County ATC/Career Readiness Center Project. Flowers and Waggener were joined in the unanimous vote by Councillors Ron Rogers, Charles Grimsley, and June Parson. Judy Keltner, Columbia, KY, of Lake Cumberland Area Development District, who is guiding the application through each step, said that the Community Block Grant is for $500,000 total, twice the maximum for such grants, because it is a joint City/County Application. The Adair County Fiscal Court had authorized the application at its December 10, 2013 regular session. She told the council that because the application is an Eonomic Development Grant, it would not affect other community block grants the city might seek. Superintendent Alan W. Reed, along with Title I Coordinator John Shelley III. Reed told the Council that this is a huge moment for our county. "It will provide opportunities for all our students, and it will help put an end to the brain drain." The new welding and fabrication program will mean that students who earn certification in skilled fields and can find good paying jobs in 20 different established industries within 25 miles of Columbia, which are needing welders and fabricators. He said that the enthusiasm at the Council meeting, and at the public hearing on December 10, 2013, is now being seen not only as a turning point in Adair County education, but for the county as well. He said that ordinarily, 6-10 people show up at such hearings. "We registered 61," he said. "and we were surprised at the diversity and standing of those who came." Will help lower drop out rates Mr. Shelley said that the new Satellite Campus will help lower drop out rates. "It will give a lot of kids one great thing to look forward to in school," he said. He said that interest in the new welding and fabrication and the health sciences programs has been great. "Over 1,000 of our students have expressed interest in them," he said. He said that existing ties to the Lake Cumberland Technical Center in Russell Springs, KY, will continue. He said the satellite campus will help Adair County's numbers, and the new satellite campus will help the Russell County center. Mr. Reed gave the Council a head's up on another technology first coming to Adair County High School. The District is working to get the Lindsey Wilson College funded Energy Technology Career Academy certified as a career path. "If this is done," Superintendent Reed said, "it will mean that Adair County is the first district in the state to have the new career path." He said that John Thompson, of the Kentucky Department of Education's Career and Technical Education recently visited the District and, when he learned of Heather Spoon's work, said, "I've been looking for someone like her for three years." Reed said that Ms. Spoon is involved in designing the program, with John Thompson, which will lead to certification at the ECTA at Columbia and at subsequent schools to get the program. Reed alluded also, to new pilot program being inaugurated with Lindsey Wilson College's Department of Education, to improve the rigor of training and the selection process for those entering the teaching field, code named and may finally named the "Vanguard Project," which is being developed now by Lindsey Wilson and the Adair County School District. "I mentioned that," he said, "to point out that even though we are making our graduates career ready as well as college ready, there will be major benefits to our schools of higher learning. Many students who take careers right out of high school will later become students at Lindsey, Campbellsville, Somerset or Western. This turning point in Adair County is a turning point in in education as well, and can only mean better days for our colleges, too. We're going to be graduating students who are career ready AND college ready; it will be good for our students, and it will be good for the colleges. We going to be doing more to help everyone find their place in the world, and not just those who will be doing hands on vocational work, but teachers, doctors, lawyers and professionals as well." Economic Development so very important The kids come first, Superintendent Reed said. But just as importantly, he said, is the economic impact the new satellite campus symbolizes. And all of that, he said, started with the "Work Ready Community" project, when there was a bonding - a jelling if you will - he said, of the business leaders, community leaders, and education leaders. This story was posted on 2013-12-19 11:48:46
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