F Provide students a seamless

transition from high school to post-secondary technical

training, associate or four-year college degree programs,

or directly into the world of work.

F Involve industry professionals and

expert craftsmen in training students through classroom

instruction, trade advisory committees,

advisement/mentoring, and actual work experiences such as

job shadowing, co-op and apprenticeship programs.

F Provide customized business and

industry training programs for local business and

industry to allow employees to develop or up-grade

skills.

F Increase the literacy rate among the

general population by providing a night high school and

GED programs.

Scheduled

to open with some of the planned programs in the fall of

2000, the center will focus its curriculum on four career

paths: business, marketing and information systems;

health and medical; human services, and technology and

engineering.

In

addition, all students will be required to communicate

effectively, use math, the arts and computers to define,

analyze and solve complex problems, and acquire

appropriate work ethics as a part of the Central

Educational Center experience.

The Georgia

Board of Education approved the CEC charter, and Georgia

Gov. Roy Barnes has given the Central Educational Center

his stamp of approval.

Gov. Barnes

sees the CEC as a model for his concept of providing

students with a seamless transition from high school to

vocational-technical school, college, or the world of

work.

As a matter

of fact, one of Gov. Barnes' education reform committees

is called the "Seamless Committee."

Strong

business partnerships, the seamless links between

secondary and post-secondary programs, and the existing

high technology community will enhance the development of

a technically trained workforce to meet the demands of

the 21st century through the Central Education Center.

This effort

is another vivid example of how we are all working

together in our community to make Coweta County schools a

great investment.