News and Awards

                   
May 2006

Pictured here is Mr. Don Willingham with 2 of 300 students that successfully completed courses in the Career Technical Center.

                   
May 2006

                   
April 2006

Career Technical Center Students Win in ACE Competition

Instructors Gaylor (far left) and Evans (far right) with ACE winners.
 

On April 7, students from area schools gathered at Wallace Community College Selma for the annual Academic Challenge for Excellence (ACE) Competition. Participants were tested in a wide variety of skills in various academic and technical disciplines.

Students enrolled in the Dallas County School System’s Career Technical Center competed in Healthcare Science and Welding, and came away with several honors and scholarships.

Jeannie Evans, Healthcare Science instructor, listed these winners from her program;
Jennifer Relph won first place and a scholarship in Nursing Assistant Skills. The team of Katrice Jones (captain) Frederica Jones, LaQuanda McGee and Seretha Hale (not pictured) won third place in the Health Bowl general knowledge competition.
Also participating in Nursing Skills competition were Mary Carter and (not pictured) Danielle Carter.

Welding program instructor Dannie Gaylor’s winning students were;
Chase Sanders-first place and a scholarship in T.I.G., M.I.G. and Oxy Fuel welding, Marvin Richardson-first place and a scholarship in ARC welding, Mitchell Hunter (not pictured) second place in Oxy Fuel, and Kendrick Thigpen-fourth place in T.I.G., M.I.G. and Oxy Fuel welding.

Vocational Education Director Don Willingham said that Southeast Airgas also donated welding prizes to the winners of $50.00 for first place and $35.00 for second place.
 

February 2006

Healthcare Science Students Present New Appearance

Mrs. Jeannie Evans, RN, second-year Healthcare Science instructor for the Dallas County School System’s Career Technical Training Center, says her students are proud of their new look. Through a grant written by Vocational Director and Assistant to the Superintendent Donald Willingham, the formerly-worn white lab coats have given way to burgundy scrubs, more in keeping with the dress of the healthcare professionals from whom they learn, in on-the-job-training situations. Evans’ students travel from the county’s high schools to the Career Tech Center for their two-year program, which allows a great degree of diversity, when choosing which area of healthcare they find interesting. Students work in clinical areas in three local physicians’ offices, as well as in the Vaughan Hospital, where their areas of study include X-ray, obstetrics, laboratory, nutrition, human resources, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, pediatrics, and in one case, even veterinary medicine. According to Evans, “Each student is assigned to a career objective-type occupation, something they choose to develop into a lifelong career.”
 

December 2005

Hyundai of Alabama Donates New Sonata to Career Tech Center

 
 From left-instructor Ken Wilkinson, student Brandon Wright, Voc. Director Don Willingham, student Lionel Richardson
and instructor Michael Shelton
 

On Thursday, December 15, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing-Alabama donated seventeen pre-production 2006 Hyundai Sontas to Alabama secondary schools and two-year colleges, all located within a 50 to 75 mile radius of the auto manufacturing facility.
According to Greg Kimble, Hyundai Director if Human Resources, “These donations are part of our continuing effort to train Alabama’s future workforce in the automotive industry.”
Dallas County Schools Director of Vocational Education, Don Willingham, explained how the cars will be used. “Here at our Career Technical Training Center, we will be able to completely disassemble the Sonata and students will have a hands-on learning environment with a modern, highly computerized automobile. Hyundai was very specific concerning the use of these cars,” Willingham said, “We are not allowed to drive them on public roadways. We can only use them for instructional purposes and after we are finished with them, they must be destroyed.” The cars are pre-production vehicles which were constructed as test beds by Hyundai staff, and were never meant for sale.
Career Tech Center Automobile Mechanics instructor Ken Wilkinson and Auto Body and Fender Repair instructor Michael Shelton say their students are eager to have access to a brand new automobile for enhanced learning opportunities.
Willingham also expressed appreciation to Selma’s Gene Hisel, who provided a tow truck from his business free of charge, in order to pick up the Sonata at the Hyundai plant and deliver it to the Career Technical Center in Selma.
 

The Dallas County Board of Education is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability in any of its educational programs or activities.