Industries around the Western Kentucky Region are feeling the pinch to fill local jobs and opportunities in the economy. Over the course of the last year, Todd County School District, Todd County Fiscal Court, and Hopkinsville Community College have stepped up efforts to attract more people to skilled trades and match them with training and apprenticeship programs. As part of this new direction, Todd County Career Path Institute has been rebranded to Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center.
The Todd County Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center is an excellent opportunity to explore career pathways while you earn high school and college credit. Our programs are aligned with the Hopkinsville Community College, Murray State University, and Western Kentucky University to ensure a seamless transition from the secondary level to a post-secondary institution. Students will earn dual credit in Advanced Manufacturing Technology and Welding Technology while enrolled at Todd County Central High School. Career pathways that have been identified as “high wage/high demand” sectors by the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky Workforce Investment Board (KWIB). The Advanced Manufacturing Program incorporates electrical concepts, program logic controllers, motor controls, hydraulics/pneumatics, robotics and automation and more.
The Welding Technology Program offers a strategic sequence of courses that allows students to transition into the workforce from multiple exit points. Students will learn oxy-fuel systems, metal inert gas, tungsten inert gas, and shielded metal arc welding. This approach to learning welding skills prepares students for multiple careers within the manufacturing sector. The programs will have a “hands-on” approach to learning while preparing students for the world of work. We embed academic standards in our instruction to help answer the “why” you need to know a particular concept. It is our goal to see every student learn and realize their fullest potential which leads to success.
With the rebranding we are highlighting new programs and offerings that will be offered. As the new Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center, the re-branding and re-organization of the center allows Todd County to meet the training and workforce development needs for the Western Kentucky Region. The Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center will provide every opportunity for the students of Todd County Schools and adults in the community ascertain industrial training, and skill sets necessary for entry level positions with our industry partners.
While perceptions are changing about manufacturing opportunities today, there is still work to be done to get young people — and their parents, who grew up with different ideas — interested in careers in trades. “A lot of parents, when they think of manufacturing, think of a dark, dingy, dirty environment, so when they hear their kids want to go into that, they say, ‘no, don’t do that.’ They haven’t seen manufacturing as it is today. It’s very clean and technology-driven. And from where you start to where you can advance is unbelievable,” stated Ed Oyler, Superintendent of Todd County Schools. “We give them a great foundation to build upon,” Oyler said, “and the pathway is there to do whatever they like.”