GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — Georgetown’s campus of the Bluegrass Community and Technical College just got a big infusion of money, and the plan is to spend it towards building the future. More specifically, building the workforce of our future.
“Toyota actually provided the seed money to start an endowment,” said Lynn Godsey, the BCTC Scott County campus director.
Godsey said the donation from their Toyota MMK neighbor down the road was worth $250,000. Almost half a million dollars in additional donations came from both the county and city. With donor money from previous years still available, the endowment fund now has $800,000 to begin using on scholarships for Scott County students interested in pursuing dual-credit classes. They can attend their public school while earning college credit and hands-on training in so many technical areas.
“It provides an opportunity for them because of the fact they’re getting to experience more of what college life is, so it helps with their transition as well,” said Billy Parker, the Scott County Schools superintendent.
Parker was among several speakers during Wednesday’s announcement. All of them agreed that money should not be the barrier between a motivated student and an education.
“It was honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” said Corey Mullikin. Mullikin is a BCTC grad, who applied his credits from here towards a college degree in another field of study. He’s now the digital marketing coordinator here.
“My older brother went through the program, so it was a no-brainer because I saw the success he had,” Mullikin said.
In the lab, where all of the technical training is done, students today were busy learning how to wire a home from the foundation up, beginning with the circuit breaker panel box.
“The wiring, bending the conduits, making sure that when they go out into the field they know exactly what to do and can do it perfectly the first time,” Mullikin explained.
BCTC has taken great pride in training young men and women, giving them the tools they’ll need to be successful in their chosen field.
“By taking dual credit classes, starting college while still in high school, these students will be accelerating to college, or into the workforce,” Godsey said.
And with the scholarship dollars now available, a large obstacle between a student and a degree, or a job has been removed.
“This takes the monetary situation out of the picture where that’s not a reason for them to feel this is out of reach,” Mr. Parker added.
