Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle lauded local education and business leaders Wednesday night, Oct. 26, during a dinner to mark the beginning of the College and Career Academy Summit, an event focused on the successes of the Floyd County College and Career Academy.

He praised the vision and work of school and industry officials who have partnered together to see the academy produce a 97-percent graduation rate and a 100-percent job placement rate.

The lieutenant governor said the school is an investment by the community in young students.

“I’m telling you, you’re going to change lives,” said Cagle.

People from all across Georgia and Alabama have come to Rome for the summit, to learn what makes it work and to take those ideas back to their own communities. Sessions and panel discussions will be today and Friday at Georgia Northwestern Technical College.

“We’re excited about this summit because we are going to be able to tell you our story and even more,” the lieutenant governor told those in attendance Wednesday evening.

Cagle said from the moment he took his current office he wanted to do something different on the education front. He said the top-down method wasn’t working and he wanted to do something bold, something to give more control to the local educators who were most directly responsible for reaching students.

As a result, said College and Career Academy CEO Frank Pinson while introducing the keynote speaker, Cagle has been the driving force for career academies and charter school systems.

Cagle used an analogy about hiring someone to cut the lawn to describe what he calls a paradigm shift.

If the employer tries to tell the lawn professional all the specifics of how to do the job, the result is likely to be less than ideal. However, if the employer only tells the lawn professional what the end result should be, the guy cutting the grass knows best how to do the job.

In this case the state government is the employer and the local educators are the lawn professionals. Giving those administrators and teachers more control means they can better meet the needs of individual students.

That, Cagle said, is the key to better results.

SUMMIT SCHEDULE

TODAY

Georgia Northwestern Technical College

9 a.m.: Registration, coffee and bagels

9:50 a.m.: Welcome. Speakers: Frank Pinson, Lynn Plunkett, Craig McDaniel, Matthew Gambill

10:15-11:15 a.m.: Lt. Governor’s Roundtable: Impact of Business/Education Partnership on Economic Development

11:15-11:50 a.m.: Why Is There A Disconnect Between Business and Education?

Noon to 1 p.m.: Lunch

1:15-4:30 p.m.: Afternoon Breakout Sessions

Session I: (1:15-2:15 p.m.)

The Floyd County Story

Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies

Dual Enrollment - Making It Work

Rigor and Relevance - How States Are Making It Work

Session II: (2:30-3:30 p.m.)

Auto Alley — Making Work Ready Region Support Education

Alabama’s GO BUILD

The Whitfield County Story — How Business Leaders Are Transforming Education:

GEICC and Energy Education for the Workforce

Ford Next Generation Learning - Engaging Communities To Impact Teaching and Learning

3:45-4:30 p.m.: Career Success Skills — Work Ethic With Meaning

FRIDAY

Georgia Northwestern Technical College

8:30 a.m.: Light breakfast, coffee

9-9:30 a.m.: Foundational Concepts

Career Academy 101 - The Process of Applying for the Career Academy Grant

9:30 a.m.: Q & A

9:45 to 11 a.m.: Best Practices

Career Academy Panel Discussion:

11:10-noon: Next Steps

11:10 a.m.: Imbedding and enhancing the state’s new “College and Career Ready Performance Index” in your Charter

11:30 a.m.: GCCAP and the College and Career Academy Certification Process

Noon: Adjourn

12:15 p.m.: Tour of Floyd County College and Career Academy

The FCCCA campus across the street from Georgia Northwestern Technical College