“When I was a freshman, we had no academies,” said Jenna. “We didn’t do anything special. You randomly picked career-related classes that you wanted and stuck with them. Most people were like, ‘okay, this seems like the easiest, so let’s go that way.’ My first year I took cosmetology — absolutely hated it. I could have saved myself a lot of heartache and time if I just knew that cosmetology was not what I wanted to do. But instead, I had to waste my time and take that class.”
Now that may not seem like a big deal until you consider Jenna’s experience is repeated over and over and over again. Thousands of students across this great country enter high school without any kind of plan for their future. They haven’t yet learned how to align their interests and skills or how to find joy and meaning in their work. Without exposure to opportunities, they remain unaware of the career possibilities available in the world of work.
In one way, Jenna was lucky, because her high school offered some career-related classes. At least she learned about one job she absolutely did not want to pursue. Many students are less fortunate because their schools offer nothing in terms of career paths, much less career-path options supported by real-world, community-connected learning. Jenna wasted her time on one class. Think about the students who waste their entire high school learning experience and graduate without a viable plan for their future — that is, if they first don’t drop out because they are unengaged and uninspired! The leaders of Knox County were determined not to let that happen on their watch.
The school Jenna referred to in her story was Carter High School. It is located in Knox County, Tennessee, and is part of Knox County School District (KCS). The county has a population of approximately 450,000, and its largest city is Knoxville. The county is at the geographical center of the Great Valley of East Tennessee. Knox County Schools serves over 60,000 students, and it has always been its mission to provide educational experiences that develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that students need to become successful members of the local and the larger global communities. In addition to providing an elementary and middle-level education grounded in the arts as well as in basic core subjects, KCS offered a secondary curriculum that provided opportunities for students in college preparation, the arts, and vocational subject areas.
About the time Jenna was getting ready to start high school, KCS recognized the obvious. The world was changing rapidly, and to truly prepare students for the future, the district’s approach to education had to change too. In the words of Superintendent Dr. Jon Rysewyk, “Knox County Schools had a longstanding culture of continuous improvement. It was always looking to do better, and it knew that to be successful it couldn’t stay on the old traditional model.” After visits to Nashville to see and learn about the success Metro Nashville Public Schools were having with the academy model, KCS teamed up with Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL) to evaluate its potential for incorporating a community-connected, career-academy approach. Ford NGL coaches, including Donna Gilley, the former Director of the Academies of Nashville & CTE, were assigned to guide KCS through the Ford NGL Roadmap Process beginning with Phase 1: Explore. This first step was about understanding the benefits and features of transforming the school experience and evaluating the community’s readiness and commitment to the Ford NGL community-connected approach.
The Explore visit confirmed the district had a strong, focused, and innovative leadership team passionate about graduating the kind of academically prepared and well-rounded students in demand by our fast-changing world. KCS also had some key elements in place that aligned with the Ford NGL Community-Connected Model. The school culture was inclusive, inviting, and provided a positive environment for students and staff. Most of the high school teachers understood the need for change and the preparation required for their role in a high school transformation. Teachers and staff felt supported and had remained at the same high school for many years. The decision was made to go on to Phase 2: Envision in which understanding and commitment to transformation were deepened, and the required systems, structures, processes, and leadership needs were addressed. Then in Phase 3: Plan, a community wide consensus on a shared vision was reached, and a master plan for achieving that aligned vision was created. Having established a solid foundation for success, the rest of the story is one of action and achievement.
On May 4, 2021, Knox County celebrated its designation as a Ford NGL Community, and what a party it was! Attendees included Superintendent Bob Thomas, Incoming Superintendent Dr. Jon Rysewyk, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, City of Knoxville Chief ECD Officer and Deputy to the Mayor Stephanie Welch; Cheryl Carrier the Executive Director of Ford Next Generation Learning, members of the Knox County Board of Education, and many other elected officials and community leaders. Of course, the reason for the transformation — the students of Knox County — along with their teachers and school leaders were featured and helped stage and host the event. The celebration clearly marked that a milestone had been reached, and it was now time for Phase 4: Implementation to begin.
In the fall of 2022, convened and funded by Knox Education Foundation, the 865 Academies were launched with the first cohort of eight! The second cohort of two was planned for 2023, and the third cohort of four in 2024. By creating career-themed academies at the district high schools, the master plan developed by the community with the support of Ford NGL, was designed so that students would be able to participate in authentic, work-based learning; receive opportunities for job shadows and other career exploration activities; work closely with professionals in their field of interest; and create stronger connections between classroom knowledge and workplace success. Superintendent Dr. Jon Rysewyk expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “This is a milestone moment for Knox County Schools. The 865 Academies, once just an idea, have been meticulously developed over the last three years. Now, each of our fourteen high schools proudly operates a Freshman Academy, and all students will have access to career-themed academies by 2025.”
But, as they say, the proof is in the pudding, so we decided to check back with Jenna to see if and how the community-connected, real-world learning transformation has impacted her and her fellow students at Carter High School. We also wanted to talk to someone from the school who was involved with the launch and continues to be involved in the rollout and implementation. We wanted to see what has been accomplished, what challenges were encountered, and what the path ahead looks like. A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to sit down with Jenna Wilson who is now a junior and student ambassador and with Kacy Helton, Academy Coach, Carter High School.
According to Jenna who is pursuing a marketing pathway, “Having the academies is really helpful, because it provides real-world experience for the academy students and for others. As a result, I’ve been involved in a lot of networking, a lot of interviews, and a lot of opportunities to talk to adults and businesspeople outside of Carter. The academies are especially helpful to our freshmen as they see what’s possible, and sophomores get to branch outside their bubbles. I know students usually get extremely nervous when talking to adults and people outside of their high school world. It’s really helping students branch out and see all the opportunities that they can have and what they can do, instead of just going down the traditional high school route like a lot of students tend to do.”
When Carter High School started implementation of the academy model, it needed an academy coach — someone dedicated to helping select business partners connect effectively with the students and faculty. Kacy Helton had spent 15 years working in the banking industry before going back to school to earn a master’s in education and transitioning to her real passion — teaching. She spent four years at Fulton High School and then another at Carter (her alma mater) as a marketing teacher. So, when the position of academy coach was created to facilitate business partnerships, Kacy was quick to accept. She saw it as a natural fit, blending her business experience with her teaching — an opportunity to bridge the gap between classroom instruction and career — a continuation of her journey as a self-described “non-educator educator.”
Kacy described an experience she never forgot. “About 2 years ago I had a group of kids and a lot of them were in the top 10% of our school academically. I asked them, what’s next? You know your seniors, right? I asked these brilliant, brilliant kids who scored really high on ACTs, what’s next? They’re like, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m going to college, because I’m smart, and that’s what I’m told that I’m going to do. I’m going to go to college, but I don’t really know what’s next.’ So, later when I heard about Ford NGL and then went to visit the Academies of Nashville, what I saw was amazing. It gave kids the opportunity to see what was out there and chart their course. I think that now, with the academies and the community-connected approach, we are going from seniors in high school who knew that they were smart but did not have a vision for their future to kids like Jenna, who have had opportunities to network and learn from one of our industry partners. The CEO of a multimillion-dollar corporation actually knows her by name, and they’re like, as soon as you turn 18 we are hiring you! Having an opportunity like that as a 16-year-old kid is huge.”
And the impact and opportunities reach beyond high-academic performers. “One of our first-year students runs in a group of friends who just like to have fun and do not necessarily prioritize school,” said Kacy. “We did our pathway tours and were going on an industry visit, and he was among the very first to turn in a permission slip. He came into the office the day of the tours, and he was so mad. He said his dad signed him out early, and he could not go on the welding visit. We talked, and I told him not to worry, that I could take him on a welding tour the following week. After the tour he thought it was great, and the career was of interest to him. I told him he had an opportunity to get into the welding class, but it required him to take his other classes like English and math more seriously. It was a chance to make that connection between interests, career, and academics. The good news is that this year alone, we have taken 75% of our first-year students on an industry visit.”
Transformation requires change from what was traditional, so we asked Kacy how that was going now that they are into year two. “I think our freshman team got on board really, really quickly, but nobody else really knew what to expect,” responded Kacy. “Teachers were asking what this was all about. They wanted to know how their role fits into an academy. I’m an English teacher or I’m a biology teacher, so what am I expected to do? We actually took a group of teachers to our first externship this past November, and I think that it has been quite successful. It was eye-opening to see our teachers’ reactions. ‘Oh, my gosh! This makes sense! I can see why it is important for a kid to learn geometry who wants to go into a particular field.’ At the same time, industry partners are telling teachers and showing students things like why, in terms of a career, it is valuable to learn a foreign language. There is no doubt that change is difficult for all of us, especially on us as teachers who have, throughout our careers, been so focused on teaching academic content and are now being asked to teach through the lens of a career. I definitely think we are in the first real year of transformation. Last year was a little bit like, why are we having to do this? Year two is a magic space where it starts making sense and coming to fruition. It is so valuable to have our teachers being on board and seeing the relevance. We have seen a huge shift in our culture, and the externships have really helped with that.”
“In terms of partnerships, it has been a slow process, but, at the same time, we are only in year two. Before teaching, I was an industry partner, so I may have a more unique perspective than others. I want intentional relationships and not an overwhelming number of partners. I think business partners see this as we are feeding their workforce, which is awesome. That is what we want to do, but at the same time being intentional about who’s best fit for us and who’s best fit for our kids. Eventually, I would like to see two really good partners per pathway. It’s a slow process, but I am a big relationship person. I treat partners as very delicate relationships, and at this point, it is moving forward appropriately, so I’m comfortable with our partnerships right now.”
“I am grateful for the support of Donna Gilley and Donna Woods of Ford NGL and Thommye Kelley, the Academy Coach at Glencliff High School, Academies of Nashville. They are all so helpful and amazing. The same is true of people at the district and on the steering committee like Brad Corum and Shannon Jackson. Then too, there are the other academy coaches. We meet every Monday along with district personnel, and we really lean on each other. We share initiatives and field trips, bounce ideas off each other, and solve problems together. We have very quickly become a remarkably close group. Across the board, this is the smartest, savviest group of people that I have ever been able to work with, so I just feel blessed to be a part of it.”
“If there is one thing I would share with other communities, and it is something I need to tell myself along the way is — trust the process. Last year I put so many expectations on myself to be perfect, and it is not always going to be perfect. I think, though, if you trust and follow the process, good things are going to happen. Last year I did not celebrate the wins, and we certainly had them. For example, one of my favorite experiences we arranged last year involved inviting about thirty industry partners to conduct short mock interviews with students. It was set up speed-dating style. The students were terrified, but our partners loved it. It was such a good interaction with our kids and a huge win for everyone. Those are the kinds of achievements we need to take time to reflect on and celebrate instead of just worrying about what detail could have been better or discouraged by what has not yet been accomplished.”
“At the same time, we know there is always the need and opportunity to do more and better. From both an academy and a district perspective, we need to improve our communication and marketing to let students, their parents, and the broader community know more about the transformation. We need to get the word out to our elementary and middle schools to let them know more about the 865 Academies and what benefits they offer. We need to show them the progress that we have made and tell them about what the freshmen and sophomores have been doing. I think if people understand the level of experience that these kids are getting, that they will hop on board. I want them to know that, even in the high school years, there are so many opportunities for our students to actually go out and work in the field. Getting our kids out of this building and working in industry before they graduate is my big goal. Together (with so many different industries, so many diverse backgrounds, and very driven people who love and believe in the work that we are doing) we are creating something exceptional for our students, for Knox County schools, and for our community. I am excited about what the future holds.”
Superintendent Rysewyk agrees,” Students need that career exposure. They need a rigorous curriculum, but they also need the opportunity to apply that knowledge to be successful in the future workforce. Academy structures make the large school feel small, so every student is seen, and every student is getting real-world experience.”
