The Vicksburg Warren School District announced it would begin the Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Health Careers with the 2015–2016 school year.

Superintendent Chad Shealy said the academies will be offered at both Vicksburg High School and Warren Central High School with the goal of preparing students for college or careers in the fields of engineering and health.

“There are a lot of jobs in both of these fields that are not necessarily engineers or doctors, so we’re going to have several strands within these academies,” he said.

Shealy said 60 percent of blue-collar jobs within the next four years are going to be in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) related fields.

“We want to make sure we’re preparing kids to be successful in their interests, but we also want to prepare them for the things they’re going to be able to immediately utilize,” he said. “These two professions are going to provide opportunities for them, no doubt.”

When looking at successful high schools on the national level, focused high schools have higher graduation rates, lower drop out rates and higher percentage placements in those fields of study, Shealy said.

“When you look at the reasons that children drop out of high school, it’s very staggeringly the same; literacy is the first of which and the other one is relevancy,” he said. “From a high school position, if it is focused on an outcome that is important for the child, then they’re much more likely to be there: not be late, not be absent and finish with a focus.”

Shealy said the two academies were chosen specifically to cater to Vicksburg.

“There are two large employers here, and both of those want to hire Vicksburg people,” he said. “One is ERDC, which was our easiest bite because we’ve already gone down the road holding hands with them, but the other is River Region. We’ve got two opportunities that will be good for our students, so those are the two options that we chose for our students.”

Shealy said the biggest issue at the beginning was sorting out how to fund these new programs but that the Mississippi Department of Education has been able to help provide funds that had been set aside for innovative high schools.

With those funds the district has been able to hire a program director, Lucy DeRossette, who has been able to pick up on the efforts already established in planning the academies, Shealy said.

“On the engineering side we have a robotics curriculum that’s out there, and we looked at that to get robotics labs for both of the high schools, and we’re looking at about $200,000 for each, but those funds won’t come out of our taxpayers’ pockets here,” he said.

The MDE really wants to see more of these types of programs, Shealy said.

“I don’t know of any that are going to be like what we have,” he said. “It’s going to be tailored specifically for us, because we have a resource like no one else — there’s not an ERDC sitting around in everybody’s back yard.”

Shealy said there are also talks with Alcorn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Delta State and Hinds Community College about adding more opportunities for students to get college credits.

“That’s something that we really want to see,” he said. “In my tenure here I hope to see that children graduate from Vicksburg Warren School District with associate’s degrees.

There are colleges that partner with school districts that make this happen, and this is a very nice conduit to be able to filter those kids toward that.”

Shealy said for $200 a year students can earn up to 24 college credits, the equivalent of six classes, while still in high school.

“They’ve got a $46 million addition with Mississippi State that’s about to be in our back yard, and I foresee us working out some things there,” he said. “We’ve talked to Delta State about a potential teacher program. They’ve got a 2+2 program already in place with Hinds Community College, so students can begin to earn dual enrollment credits if they’re already interested in teaching.”
The goal is to end up with students who are significantly closer to getting a bachelor’s degree when they come out of high school, Shealy said.

“When people think of Vicksburg, I want them to think great things,” he said. “We have the opportunity that nobody else in the entire state has. Working with ERDC is definitely something we’re very excited about.”