‘Dual Credit’ Engine for Success

MERIDIAN - - While most high school seniors are thinking “senior trip,” Johnny Kilgore is headed to college…again.  Two weeks before his Meridian High School commencement, Kilgore graduated from Meridian Community College.

“I’m going to Nashville Auto Diesel College,” Kilgore said after earning his certificate in automotive technology at MCC and diploma from Meridian High School.

Kilgore was a member of the inaugural class for the Automotive Technology Program at MCC.  The college is one of the first to offer Career and Technical “dual credit” as a way to help grow a credentialed competitive workforce, a key goal of the West Alabama East Mississippi (WAEM) Regional Initiative.  MHS’s Ross Collins Vocational Technical students who enrolled in the program earned high school credit for their high school auto mechanics program plus college credit in MCC’s program. 

 “The partnership MCC has enjoyed with the Meridian Public School District in the automotive technology program is a shining example of two agencies working together to create new career opportunities for our students,” said Dr. Scott Elliott, president of Meridian Community College. “The beauty of education is that there are diverse pathways to preparing for one’s future. For many students, that pathway is a traditional university transfer curriculum, but for others that pathway comes through learning a viable, marketable technical skill.”

Dr. Richie McAlister, Dean of Career and Technical Education at MCC, right, watches as Johnny Kilgore tries on his MCC mortar board.

“In the case of automotive technology, there’s no question that cars and trucks are going to be a major component of society for the foreseeable future, and there’s always going to be a need for skilled people to keep those vehicles running well,” he said.

Matt Johnson, instructor for the Automotive Technology program at Ross Collins, delivered the college-level curriculum to the seniors in the high-school environment.

 “It (the program) has given our students an opportunity to go a little further,” said Terry Moore, director of Ross Collins Vocational Center. “This was a good experience for our teacher, too. It gave him more insight into the college curriculum,"added Moore.

 For Kilgore, the program was what he wanted to put his career in gear. Interested in auto mechanics when he got his driver’s license, he said he wanted to know more about how to fix and work on cars. He credits his instructors for his success. “It (the class) could be difficult at times, but the teachers have really helped me.”

Joining Kilgore at MCC graduation were fellow students Joseph Bishop, Charles Dale and Brittania S. Plummer.

Dr. Elliott noted his hope is that MCC can continue to work with our schools, both City of Meridian and Lauderdale County, to develop these kinds of fast track opportunities in career and technical education. “Because producing skilled workers is unquestionably one of the key elements of turning this economy around,” he added.