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Students in the Troup County School System were given a tour on Nov. 17 of West Georgia Tech to explore alternatives to a traditional high school diploma. 

The tour showed the students several career options including cosmetology, welding and early childhood education. This program was first piloted by the Troup County Career Center last year and is currently recruiting students.

Jeff Little, principal at TCCC, said it was rewarding to have the students see new options for their future and potentially consider a new career.

“All these kids, even if they weren’t interested in early childhood development, sat through that early childhood development presentation and learned something from that,” Little said.

“I see the engagement and the learning spark just by their notion of having an opportunity to succeed.”

Little said the students on the tour were not the stereotypical high school student and could benefit from a new way to learn.

“These are students that are non-traditional students. They don’t engage in a classroom. If you sit them down in a classroom and deliver instruction in front of the class, they’re not that kind of kid. They don’t do well that way,” Little said.

“We’re looking at January for enrollment. We have some 50 seats that are available for students from the high school for either the performance-learning side of our services or the dual enrollment side of our services.”

Little said if parents are interested in having their student check out this new program, there are a few things they, or their students, can do.

“They would need to contact their student’s counselor at their base school. Feel free to contact us at the Career Center, we’re more than happy to talk to parents,” Little said.

The phone number for the career center is (706) 668-6820.