What’s Right With Our Schools: Sequoyah Future Ready
SODDY DAISY, TN (WDEF) – A new initiative is coming to Sequoyah High School that promises to open up a world of opportunities for students. The North River Future Ready Center aims to equip students with the skills they need for college and in-demand careers. This is another perfect example of “What’s Right With Our Schools”.
Big changes are coming to Sequoyah High School. Hamilton County Schools and the Mayor’s Office have announced plans for the North River Future Ready Center—a hands-on training hub aimed at preparing students for both college and in-demand careers.
“Incredibly excited not just for the future of our economy regionally that Hamilton County step forward to be a leader, the future ready center format I think is going to signal a seriousness that this community has about the future. Not just our children but our workforce in our economy,” said Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp.
The center will follow the successful model already in place at the Harrison Bay Future Ready Center, where students earn career certifications, take dual enrollment classes, and get a head start on life after graduation.
“Our goal is to provide every student with the opportunity to find their career by choice not by chance, and we believe doing so is about offering more opportunity for access and exposure, and so programs like the CTE programs that we have offered here and at the other Harrison Bay Future Ready Center as well as some of our traditional high schools. This gives students the opportunity to expose and try new things, get their feet wet in careers that they might not have heard of, but really what the future ready center is what’s really special about that is that we were able to offer programs that require a lot of space. This is a massive building that we can offer programs like welding, cosmetology, and structural system that we can’t do in a in a traditional academic building, said Olivia Bagby, Director of Future Ready Students.
Noah Wilkerson, a senior at both the Harrison Bay Future Ready Center and Ooltewah High School, says the program provided him with opportunities that weren’t offered at his previous school.
“Went to Ooltewah when I realized that engineering wasn’t really a thing at Ooltewah, then I found out about Harrison Bay. So I gave it a trial run, and at first I was a very introverted kid, I didn’t talk to anybody, I was quiet. I got to know more about the staff at Harrison Bay, and I think that was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life, going to Harrison Bay,” said Wilkerson.
The new Future Ready Center is expected to open in time for the 2025–26 school year.
We’ll continue to follow the progress of the North River Future Ready Center as it takes shape.
