News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Twelve Putnam County students are registered and preparing to begin the Middle College program at Vol State this fall.
Putnam Schools Future Ready Supervisor Sam Brooks said all of the students met with staff from the school system and Vol State to make sure they understand what will be expected and what they will get out of the program. Brooks said the small size of this first class will benefit the program as they start this experimental year.
“I think we could have managed it either way, but I think having the lower numbers is going to give us the ability to, you know, gain feedback from those student in times that we meet with them,” Brooks said. “And get a kind of true look of what their feel is for the program and how we might need to adjust it as we go into year two.”
The Middle College program allows students interested in finishing high school to also obtain an associates degree, working most of the day at VOl State. Brooks said the program has representation from each high school. Brooks said it is a fairly even spread between Monterey, Upperman, Cookeville, White Plains Academy, and the VITAL online program. He said they expect the program to grow through word of mouth as these students tell their classmates about the program and all it offers.
“Vol State has really dedicated two rooms to them as entry-level rooms,” Brooks said. “One’s a computer lab for these students specifically made for them, the students of Putnam County. And then the other is kind of a lounge area so when they’re in between classes and they have some time to study or whatever they need to do they’ll have a room that’s identified just for them.”
Brooks said he does not expect any more students to join the program because they have been working with counselors to find students for the program since the last spring semester.
“The only folks we would be interested in bringing into the program would be transfer students or students who didn’t attend any of those meetings last year, and so other than that we’re full-bore with the twelve students we have,” Brooks said.
Brooks said everything they do in the Future Ready VITAL program starts very small because it is always something completely new and innovative.
“I was a little worried that, you know, we were going to have a hundred students request it across the district,” Brooks said. “And I think that’s going to happen in time, but I was very satisfied going into this first year.”
