internship placements for students under 18. The district has responded by building partnerships that give students exposure to local businesses while developing entrepreneurial skills that consider the community’s economic foundation. Small businesses drive the regional economy, and the district has made entrepreneurship a cornerstone of its career preparation. At Smoky Mountain High School, students run Smoky Mountain Espresso, a coffee shop that serves faculty while teaching the full cycle of business operations. “Students can take the culinary expertise that they’ve learned in our courses, and they run a coffee shop,” Dills says.“It shows the students how you come full circle in the delivery of the culinary skills, but how we match that with the business skills of marketing, selling, promotion, stocking, all of those kinds of different things.” A career development coordinator serves the entire district, connecting students with part-time work and summer employment opportunities as they arise. Businesses frequently approach the district seeking employees, particularly in tourism-related positions that fuel the $468 million visitor economy. While formal internships face age restrictions, the district arranges shadowing experiences that allow students to test career interests. Ayers describes one early college student who spent a semester in a law office and realized she wanted to pursue a different path.“I always call it dipping our toe,” she says.“We’re giving our kids a chance to dip their toes into something and they can determine if that’s something that they want to pursue.” CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL OF TOMORROW Jackson County Public Schools operate with a structure uncommon in North Carolina: elementary schools that house students from preschool through eighth grade, with no traditional middle school. Students typically spend nine or ten years in the same building before transitioning to high school. That model is about to change dramatically, thanks to a $52 million needs-based grant from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction awarded nearly a year ago. “We wrote a grant,”Ayers explains.“It probably is not going to complete the project, but what that means is we already have hired an architect. We’re in the planning and design phase of that.” Within three to four years, the district will pull grades six, seven, and eight into a dedicated middle school facility. “The move will allow staff to focus specifically on adolescent development and expand career and technical education offerings at the middle level, introducing younger students to pathways before they reach high school.” The middle school project leads a broader capital 281 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 11 JACKSON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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