It was hard to wipe the smile off of John Wilson’s face this week as he made his way around the Limestone County Career Technical Center campus.

What once was his and Director Vince Green’s dream had finally become a reality. The high school Ready-to-Work program was officially off and running.

“This is definitely an exciting time for us,” Wilson said. “Initially, when we were planning to implement this, 12 students was our goal. We currently have 65 enrolled. It has far exceeded our expectations.”

The high-school Ready-to-Work program is designed by employers so they can meet hiring needs. The first five to seven weeks of the program consist of Alabama Industrial Development Training soft skill specifics. In those weeks, students receive training that will improve employee retention, time management, problem-solving skills and critical thinking techniques. The remaining weeks of the program are driven by the needs of those employers.

“During that time, students will get a focused training curriculum from specific industries in our region,” Wilson said.

Several of the industries currently participating include: Athens-Limestone Hospital, Mazda-Toyota Manufacturing USA, Polaris, Y-tec Keylex Toyotetsu Alabama and Intech Medical.

“This has been a total team effort in getting this going,” Wilson said. “The collaboration we’ve had has been great.”

In addition to the specific training they’ll receive, students will also have the opportunity to earn industry recognized credentials such as the National Career Readiness Certificate from ACT, the Alabama Certified Work Certificate from AIDT and OSHA 10, among others. In order to receive certification, however, students in the program must have a 95% attendance and punctuality rate, satisfactory achievement of work ethic, organizational skills, attitude and motivation, along with scoring 70% or higher on all required assignments and completion of Work Keys assessment with level 3 or higher.

“We are excited about the opportunity this program creates for our students,” Limestone County Schools Superintendent Randy Shearouse said. “The community support for Ready-to-Work and the willingness of Vince Green and John Wilson to get this quickly started made this a reality for over 60 students.”

Currently, the Limestone County Career Technical Center is piloting the program. However, Shearouse plans for the program to be available at all high schools this fall.

“We look forward to being able to expand this program to our other high schools,” Shearouse said. “The school board is in full support of providing key opportunities like this for our students.”