New CTE director aims for career education as early as kindergarten
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Assistant principal and career tech director Dr. Michele Edwards stands in the hallway at Benjamin Russell High School.

 Siri Hedreen / The Outlook

Industrial agriculture, medical assisting and event planning are just some of the classes that can be taken alongside reading, writing and arithmetic at Benjamin Russell High School. But the course catalogue is growing.

Dr. Michele Edwards, both the new career-technical education (CTE) director and assistant principal at the high school, has immediately gotten to work on a three-year plan for Alexander City Schools' CTE program. The vision is part of a state-wide initiative to shore up workforce preparedness, starting as early as pre-kindergarten.