What’s Right With Our Schools: PIE Center Serves Up Opportunity
BRADLEY COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) – Helping students hone the skills they need to land a good job is a vital part of a solid education. From welding to robotics, firefighting to nursing, the PIE Center in Bradley County has a variety of programs that employers are looking for. That’s a brick-and-mortar example what’s right with our schools.
Brittany Canon is the Director at the PIE Center.
She says, “PIE CENTER, Partnership in Industry and Education, is an offsite center that serves Bradley Central and Walker Valley and will expand into Polk and Meigs. So, it’s a regional approach to providing students a hands-on collaborative, real-world applications.”
Diane Devine is a Junior at Walker Valley High School.
She says, “We’ll I’ve always been interested in robots and stuff And the PIE Center Call is a great place to get hands-on experience, as well as different certifications. The teachers are really good. They are really hands-on. They are really helpful. They’re all about the students here.”
Adam Lowe is a Tennessee State Senator from District 1.
He says, “This is a dream realized for Bradley County. Over a decade ago, several business leaders in this community. And we have to make sure that students are responsive when it comes to what businesses need to excel in Tennessee; we need to make sure the workforce is adequately prepared.”
Cindy Leslie is a Health Science Instructor at the PIE Center
Cindy says, “The name of the class is nursing services and it’s actually for students that plan on going to be an LPN or license practical nurse.”
Easton Carson is a senior at Water Valley.
Easton chips in, “We are really getting good opportunities, being able to do LPN’s or as early as we are doing, and not having to wait to get out of high school for it.”
Samuel Perez is also a senior at Walker Valley High
He says, “I enjoy it! I have so much flexibility. I can come and leave as I choose. I really get to know the facility, and because there are like less people here, you get to, really get to know everybody.”
Student Matthew Soule adds, “The PIE Center has a whole bunch of different opportunities like the welding classes, and machining classes and electronic classes. Each individual class has its own connections different places.”
Fellow student Mark Kelsey says,” We have like the best of the best resources that you can get here, and so I really think it’s giving us a leg up think. So, when we get to fall to go to trade school, I think I’m going to be ahead of the competition.”
Brittany Cannon concludes, ” We ultimately have capacity to serve anywhere from 800 to 1000 students on site each day. So, we have redefined how we do education. It’s not your traditional education setting. They come and they work here from say 8:15 to 11:15. Then they go back to their respective schools. And we have another group that will come in from 12:30 to 3:30. And the unique thing about the PIE Center is… to break all barriers for students. It is to provide students with a purpose.”
