MCC Expands Dual Enrollment

MERIDIAN - - Kyle McAdory, a senior at Southeast Lauderdale High School, is getting a jump on his collegiate studies while in high school. 
 
This opportunity results from Meridian Community College’s decision to expand its dual enrollment program.  This fall, the college added the career and technical programs Machine Tool, Drafting and Design, Telecommunications, Graphics Communication and Automotive to its dual enrollment offerings.
 
“I like it a lot,” McAdory said as he zeroed his focus on a project in his Principles of Computer Assisted Drawing (CAD) class. “The first week was different, but now it’s been two weeks. It’s more hands-on.”


Kyle McAdory, senior at Southeast Lauderdale High School and student at Meridian Community College.

As one of eight community colleges participating in the West Alabama-East Mississippi (WAEM) Initiative, Meridian Community College boosted the dual enrollment program to help grow a credentialed competitive workforce, a key goal of the WAEM Initiative.

The program allows area high school students to simultaneously earn college or vocational credit toward a post-secondary degree or diploma at a Mississippi public institution that will also count toward a high school diploma.

“MCC has long partnered with our public school systems on traditional academic dual enrollment programs,” said Dr. Scott Elliott, MCC president, “but those academic programs are oriented toward the university transfer curriculum. These new career and technical dual enrollment programs provide high school students with exposure to what might well develop into an entry-level job one day. Some students will discover through these programs what they ultimately want to do for a living. Others might discover what they don’t want to do. Either way, the experience will prove valuable as these young people chart their future course. The business of hands-on, learn-by-doing education should be appealing to a lot of people once the public becomes acquainted with these opportunities.”

MCC is one of the first community colleges in the state to offer career and technical education dual credit. Through an agreement that was signed earlier this spring by Lauderdale County and Meridian Public School superintendents, students in high school will receive credit on their high school transcripts for courses that they take at MCC.

Leah McGraw, MCC drafting and design instructor, sees the pluses.  “If a high school student takes all four dual credit classes offered in Drafting and Design, they will have 12 college hours before ever starting college. The advantage to the student is they have the opportunity to finish a two- year degree in a year and a half.” 

According to Dan Talley, assistant workforce director at MCC, “students that take these courses are also better prepared for the workforce as they leave high school.  The drafting program, for example, will help them understand blueprints used by many of our local manufacturers.  And blue print reading is a component of the Modern Multi-Skill Manufacturing Credential (M3) developed by the WAEM Initiative.  Students taking drafting courses at MCC will learn the skills they need to complete that portion of the M3.”

McGraw teaches eight dual enrollment students from Clarkdale, Northeast and Southeast.  She also has four students who are not in the Drafting and Design program who are taking Principles of CAD to further their education and make them the best of the best in their career choice.  One of those students is Jessica Frazier. With a career goal of becoming a nurse, the high school senior said she was interested in CAD.  “Maybe I could do this as a side job,” she said.

The students, though, aren’t the only ones who like the classes. “I’ve enjoyed teaching the high school students,” McGraw said. “They keep me on my toes and we have a good time.”

In McGraw’s class, students are learning that CAD is the basic software used in such fields as architectural, electrical, aeronautical, electronic, civil, structural, tool design, mechanical, survey, geological, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) or plumbing.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, the opportunities should be best for individuals who have at least two years of post secondary training in drafting and considerable skill and experience using computer-aided design and drafting systems.

As for McAdory, his career plans include joining the military and becoming an officer. And the start he’s making in high school might give him the edge over other candidates. “I thought by coming to MCC early, it would help me.”