North Mississippi school district opens career, tech center – Associated Press

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — A north Mississippi school district has opened a new career and technical center offering instruction in culinary arts, advanced manufacturing and other trades.

Students and staff held a ribbon cutting on Thursday for the $8 million Lee County Career & Technical Education Center in Tupelo. The facility has been open for classes since mid-November after a year and a half of construction.

The center’s two-year course offerings also include instruction in unmanned aerial systems, teaching, health science, construction, agriculture, natural resources and heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Director Amy Johnson told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal there are about 180 students enrolled this year. The center has capacity for 360 students.

She told the newspaper she hopes to build partnerships with industries in the Lee County area that will allow students to complete a third-year internship or apprenticeship in the field they are studying.

The career and technical center is the first building to be constructed at Lee County’s newest industrial park, “The Hive.”

Lee County voters approved funding for the center in January 2020 as part of a $15 million bond issue.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/science-education-mississippi-tupelo-3350cebaa2b850b396e7757bcdbb15c5