Story by Donna Thornton • donna@southerntorchcom
Photo courtesy of GovernorIveyphotos.com
State, city, and school representatives participated Monday in the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Fort Payne City School’s new BEAT Center, a vocational school offering hands-on learning facilities for building technology, electric vehicle maintenance and aviation drone training.
People were excited to see Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey in Fort Payne Monday morning, but the star of the show at the BEAT Center ribbon cutting on the campus of Fort Payne High School was the center itself and the programs it will offer for Fort Payne students.
“I don’t think we’ve seen this much excitement here at the high school since Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry and Alabama kicked off their first June Jam back in 1982,” Ivey said, adding that in this center, the city has something as big to celebrate.
“Today marks a a significant milestone in our school district’s commitment to provide our students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive,” Fort Payne City Schools Superintendent Brian Jett said.
The BEAT Center stands for Building, Electrical Vehicle and Aviation Technology,” he said. “It represents a substantial investment in STEM-focused vocational education.”
There was a large turnout for the ribbon-cutting: the governor, Senate Majority Leader Steve Livingston, Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell, the members of the Fort Payne Board of Education, Mayor Brian Baine and the members of the Fort Payne City Council, DeKalb County. Commission President Ricky Harcrow and District 3 Commissioner Ron Safferite, NACC President Dr. David Campbell, former board President Jimmy Durham and former Superintendent Jim Cun
ningham, Crystal Talley of ADECA, Kevin Anderson of TARCOG, and representatives of Goodwyn Mills Cawood, the architects who designed the center.
Jett explained some of how the center came to be.
In January 2021, the governor awarded the Fort Payne City School System with a $1 million grant, he said, from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Appalachian Automotive initiative Workforce. Through that grant, $4.2 million in bond money from the state and some local dollars made up the $5.8 million cost of the project.
The project’s design includes this: Three classrooms and two dedicated work place bays. “These spaces will allow our students to engage in the learning experience of real-world projects,” the superintendent explained.
In building construction, students will use the tools of that trade and collaborate to build a tiny home. “That’s our goal,” he said. Partnerships with local industries will give students connections to prospective employers.
The Aviation Technology program will empower students with the opportunity to earn FAA certifications for drone flight on the FPHS campus.
“Our students will be well positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for drone pilots across many sectors,” Jett said.
Focus will also be given to sustainable practices in an Off-the-Grid classroom, to prepare students for the “green” jobs of the future, he said.
In addition to its emphasis on securing jobs for students, the BEAT Center will offer security for all Fort Payne City students. The entire 12,000 square-foot building is a FEMA certified storm shelter. “All 1100 students on this campus would be able to be here during a severe storm,” he said.
Ivey recalled when efforts began to create a “facility that would transport local high school students beyond their traditional classrooms and lead them to advanced technical career training.”
In September 2021, ground broke on this facility, Ivey said. “And today, thanks to so much hard work by so many, we will finally cut the ribbon.”
The governor noted the innovation in career tech training in Fort Payne schools, giving students the jump on their counterparts in other parts of the state by graduation.
“The range and depth off career tech instruction offered in the Fort Payne schools is frankly unrivaled for a system of this size,” Ivey said, including health science, sports medicine, engineering, robotics, horticulture, culinary arts, and cyber security.
“Thanks to this new STEM-focused facility, Fort Payne students will be well-equipped to obtain employment in their chosen fields. I can’t wait to see them get started.”
Senate Majority Leader Steve Livingston praised the amazing facility. He said Alabama’s focus has set the state up with some of the top economic development incentives in the country.
“We’re making hay while the sun shines with that,” he said. He noted the center’s focus on electrical vehicle maintenance – in a state that was No. 1 in automobile exports in 2023 with some $11 billion – followed up with the drone technology program.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of this facility,” Livingston said. “It’s going to be amazing.”
Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter recalled ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell calling him saying, “I’ve got a little bit of money I need to get rid of.” He told Boswell he’d called the right person, he joked. The catch – there had to be an application in within days.
He called Jim Cunningham and told him there was an opportunity for money for a vocational enter in Fort Payne. And he told him how quickly the application had to be in. Cunningham delivered that application to Montgomery under the deadline.
Ledbetter said the project was the culmination of teamwork at all levels. He recognized Jett and the team at FPCS.
“Alabama’s workforce is changing every day. It’s the responsibility of our leaders and educators to get ahead of the curve and prepare our children for success and prosperity after graduation,” he said.
Ledbetter noted the center will train students for in-demand jobs with its building construction technology focus. For every five people who retire from trades currently, he said, there is one to replace them. “We have to do better,” he said.
Aviation is a booming industry, he said, and the BEAT Center will be a game-changer for the area.
Aviation/Drone Instructor Steve Black was given the opportunity to show off the drone program.
There was plenty to show: Including a recording of a search and rescue training exercise that put a student in the woods and located him through a drone search, pinpointing the student’s location and sending a larger drone – capable of carrying a 22-pound payload – to him with a two-way radio and a first-aid kit.
“We have one of, if not the, largest drone fleets in the state,” Black said. There was no curriculum for a drone class when Fort Payne’s began. He and another instructor were asked to draft the curriculum.
The course of study developed allows students to earn a commercial drone license while in high school. The students study licensure, where they learn much of what a pilot would study, including GPS coordinates, latitude, longitude and more.
When they finish in-class study, they go to an FAA testing facility.
15 signed up; 13 completed all modules, and 11 of them completed the hard test required to get their license.
The other part of the course of study is practical manuevers, where students learn everything from how to use a drone to film a football game to search-and-rescue mission with thermal imaging.
While guest were on campus for the ribbon cutting, students were showing their skills in the building bay, and in the aviation bay, where they piloted small drones through a series of hoops to hone skills in navigating the devices remotely.
Additionally, the BEAT Center’s Off-The-Grid Classroom, showcases sustainable technologies and practices, further enhancing the students’ educational experience and environmental awareness.
“The BEAT Center represents a new era in vocational education,” remarked Career Tech Director Dan Groghan. “We are committed to providing our students with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in today’s workforce. With the BEAT Center, we’re not just building structures; we’re building futures.”
Students will engage in practical learning activities, simulations, and real-world projects, ensuring they graduate with the credentials and expertise necessary to excel in their chosen field.
