Catoosa Public Schools

6 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 12 From Here to Career: The Successful Launch of the College and Career Academy The recently opened College and Career Academy, known as From Here to Career, is a driving force behind the district’s mission to prepare students for life after graduation. This initiative was the result of extensive planning involving a diverse steering committee that included members from the business community. Brower recounts, “It’s very interesting because one of the things that happened when we were interviewing our community about the pathways that we needed to open, consistently across every industry they said our young people do not have the soft skills and the work ethics to be successful in industry.” To address this issue, the academy places a strong emphasis on these areas, and has hired a talent development specialist who has written a unique professional skills development curriculum. The acronym “MAGIC,” represents the essence of their approach to student development, as Brower conveys, “When we say ‘magic happens’ at the Career Academy, it really does. What our