Riverchase Career Connection Center (RC3)

Recently, future 10th, 11th, and 12th graders at Spain Park High School and Hoover High School had the opportunity to sign up for an academy at the new Riverchase Career Connection Center (RC3) building (opening in August 2019). For RC3’s first year, courses offered at this expansion include the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Academy, the Cyber Innovation Academy, the Fire and Emergency Services Academy, the Health Science Academy, and lastly, the Skilled Trades Academy. Students are being given an opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills about occupations they may be interested in for their future jobs. The RC3 team is hoping that in the future they will be able to introduce an Automotive Technology Academy, a Biotechnology Academy, a Heavy Equipment Academy, a Landscaping Academy, and an Advanced Manufacturing Academy. Although not offered at RC3 yet, officials believe that these academies could potentially be developed and would give the students more opportunities for their future.

Student, Ansey Mikos, will be attending RC3 for her 11th-grade year at SPHS. She believes that “RC3 is going to be a new and exciting experience for Spain Park. It is going to be very beneficial to the students in furthering their knowledge on what they might want to do with their future yet at the same time exposing them to a different learning environment. All in all, RC3 is going to be a great addition to the many options Spain Park and Hoover have to offer its students.”

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Staff at the Riverchase Career Connection Center are as follows:

Vincent Chiaramonte: Lead CTE Cyber Academy Teacher

Natalie Coleman: Career Technical Education Specialist

Brian Copes: Lead CTE Building Science Academy Teacher

Dr. Ron Dodson: Director

Patty Fitzgerald: Administrative Assistant

Tanya Kendrick: Lead Health Science Academy Teacher

Chris Villa: Lead CTE Culinary/Hospitality Teacher

Helena Young: Counselor

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Two different shifts are offered at RC3 so that students can choose which time works best for their schedules and out-of-school life. By offering two different shifts, students will still be able to participate in extracurricular activities such as football, show choir, band, and etc. The morning shift earns four credits whereas the afternoon shift only earns three. The difference between the two times is that the morning shift is longer and requires the students to take an additional elective during their shift. Electives offered at RC3 consist of Health/Driver’s Ed, Spanish for the Workplace, X-Build Team, and Small Business Management. No matter the shift students pick, they will have to take their English and Mathematics class at RC3. The courses will be the same as those offered at HHS or SPHS; however, they will have a greater emphasis on how they apply to the student’s area of career interest. Students will still eat lunch at SPHS or HHS either when they come back or before they leave for RC3.

Helena Young, the RC3 counselor, when asked what the benefits of attending RC3 would be responded: ¨RC3 is going to give students the opportunity to be both college and career ready.” She went on to say that ¨they will receive skills, credentials, and abilities that will help them transition from high school into college, high school into the workforce, or high school into college and workforce.” Continuing, Ms. Young discussed how they chose the academies for RC3: “they did a lot of research with other programs around the nation to see what credentials helped kids be the best prepared and earn high paying jobs.”

Regarding transportation, there will be two available options for traveling to and from RC3. Students with a valid driver’s license are permitted to drive to the building for their morning or afternoon shift; however, students who are unable to drive can ride the shuttle bus over, which has free wifi so students can work on their Chromebooks.

The work environments at RC3 are much like those you would find in the real world. The idea is to give the students a feel of what having a real job is like. There is both an application and an interview process for students to go through in order to attend the new academies. Once “hired for their job,” students will be considered “employees” and will have to clock in and out of their workspaces. Similar to a real job, students who show inappropriate behavior in their work environment will be dismissed from RC3, but you will have the chance to reapply the following school year. No bells will be at RC3 due to the flexible scheduling that will be adjusted by the staff weekly. Students will not be able to attend for part of a shift because of the regularly changing schedules that affect the start and end times of classes.

Ron Dodson, Director of RC3 and an assistant principal at SPHS from 2001 to 2004, believes that “changes in today’s workforce, combined with the continually rising cost of college tuition, have forced us to reconsider our district’s historical emphasis on college-for-all. Today, we know that half our graduates at HHS and SPHS will most likely not finish a college degree. RC3 will expand opportunities for students to receive real-world workforce training and continue to be academically prepared for college.”

The goal of RC3 is to provide students with an opportunity to learn about their future careers and to give them experience. Students, when taught hands-on, receive better grasps on certain topics that could be applied to their career of choice. RC3 believes that their academies will allow their students to succeed in their field of choice and provide them with real-life skills that will benefit their future careers.