Career Academies of Decatur addition has grand opening

Sep. 21—Jeremy Williams, a 16-year-old junior at Austin High School, said he started taking culinary classes at Career Academies of Decatur just to eat but now wants to make a career out of cooking.

"It started as, I'm hungry during class, I just want to eat," Williams said. "But now it's more like, this is really something I could see myself going into. Now I think of me being more of a private chef whenever I get older as a job."

Career Academies of Decatur celebrated the grand opening of its 28,000- square-foot addition Tuesday. Elizabeth Gentle, Decatur City Schools spokeswoman, said they broke ground in November 2021 and the addition was completed in time for students to move in at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year. The academy, DCS's career technical center, opened in 2018 and is located next to Austin Junior High School at 1229 Westmead St. S.W. in Decatur.

Williams soon learned if he wanted to eat, he had to learn to cook.

"(The teacher) told us, we've got a bunch of food, we eat every class, and I was sold," he said. "We started with safety, basic terminology and everything like that. Once all that was passed, we started cooking and I loved that."

Williams is starting his second year in the culinary arts program, which he attends five days a week, and plans to go to college after high school.

"Whether that's culinary college or if that's not an option, I think just starting a catering business or something like that," he said.

DCS Superintendent Michael Douglas said when it began, DCS's career technical program credentialed 59 students, but in the 2022-23 school year, 800 students were given credentials. He said the addition allows the district to "service more kids, have more offerings, and really build a workforce for this community."

Academies Principal Ressa Chittam said the academy services students in grades 10 through 12 from both Austin High School and Decatur High School. She said the academy offers almost anything a student could want to do to enter into a technical career.

"In our new building we have medical science programs, engineering, but we also offer welding, precision machining, barbering, cosmetology, culinary, building science, cybersecurity and automotive," Chittam said. "If you can dream it, you can achieve it at the career academy."

Douglas said they aimed the programs toward topics that fit the community's job market.

"In the back we've got automotive because you've got Mazda Toyota (Manufacturing) right nearby," he said. "Obviously, health care with Decatur Morgan/Huntsville Hospital; we've got a very vibrant (program). And then welding, welding is in demand in all parts of the state."

Chittam said the academy students are in demand when they graduate.

"That is one of the perks about our program, is that we are providing that workforce for our community," she said.

Douglas said the academy also offers classes in heavy machinery.

"That's something that if you can operate those big machines, it's going to make our kids more marketable and be able to get jobs," Douglas said.

Ben Maples is a heavy equipment teacher at the academy and said this is the first year for the class.

"What we're teaching these kids to do is operate different types of equipment such as bulldozers, forklifts, skid steers, excavators, a little bit of everything," he said. "We're also teaching them some basic construction skills such as ... maintaining equipment. Doing a little bit of everything because the construction field is so big that there's a lot of things these kids could go into so we're kind of getting a good, wide base for them."

There are seven heavy machinery simulators in a room at the academy. Maples said the simulators give the students an opportunity to sit in an environment that is close to what they will experience in the real world.

"They can learn on the simulators and when they get out of high school, they've got some experience going on the jobsite," he said. "The simulators aren't a straight swap for real world experience, but it gives them a good base. Plus, it's a lot easier and they can't tear anything up on these things while they're learning so it's a good way for them to learn."

Maples said there are seven students enrolled this year and there is a wide variety of things he can teach in the class.

"We have a lot of community interest and a lot of industry around us that's pretty interested in this course," he said.

Nicole Montgomery, a 17-year-old senior at Austin High, has been in the sports medicine program since she was in 10th grade.

"It's to help you go into physical training, physical therapy, athletic training, stuff like that," she said.

Montgomery said she wants to have a career as an athletic trainer.

"I kind of had an interest in it when I was in 10th grade, that's why I signed up for the classes to see what it was about. But I really hadn't decided yet what I really wanted to do until probably the end of my junior year," she said. "I used to run cross-country and track and I had an injury, and I went to PT, like the clinics, and I was like, oh, this might be something I'd like to do; I just had some first-hand knowledge."

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.