The old Gadsden High School building on South 12th Street hasn’t been completely unoccupied since the city’s three high schools were consolidated 16 years ago into Gadsden City High. The facility currently houses the city system’s alternative school. 

Still, it hasn’t seen anywhere close to the activity level of its heyday — but that’s about to change. 

Gadsden City Schools this week learned that it had been approved for a Construction Industry Craft Training grant that will help turn a longtime dream of Superintendent Tony Reddick into reality with the Gadsden Readiness and Career Education — or GRACE — Academy. 

Phase 1 of the academy will offer training — free, there will be no tuition charge — not just to students in the school system, but to adults across Etowah County who left school either with or without a diploma, plus homeschooled and private school students, in commercial construction, electrical technology and plumbing. 

The training will take place in 16-week cohorts ultimately following the traditional first semester/second semester/summer school calendar. A news release on the program said there will be separate training times for students and for adults and out-of-school youth; Reddick indicated the class day will likely be three to four hours. 

Participants won’t receive school credits or a certificate when they complete the courses, but will leave with extensive on-the-job training from instructors provided by local construction and electrical contractors and plumbers, who according to Reddick are partnering in the academy and have indicated a willingness to hire worthy candidates. Student participants can earn an elective credit.

The goal is twofold: to recruit, retrain and retain local workers, and in the process make the area attractive to industrial developers and recruiters. 

“We’ve been here since 2006 with this old building that was limited in use,” Reddick said. “Since I became superintendent, I’ve thought about how much we were spending to keep it open.” 

Cognizant of the need for workforce development locally, Reddick began tossing around ideas with Dr. Lana Gaskin Bellew, the system’s grant writer, who researched offerings and helped put together the successful grant application that will mean $300,000 annually for the project. 

Reddick stressed that GRACE Academy won’t replace the school system’s existing tech center at Gadsden City High. 

"We're going to encourage students taking electives, or co-op students, to take advantage of it,” he said, “as well as adults and students who left school early. It will provide them opportunities that could help them immediately be able to go to work.” 

The goal is to get 250 participants a year, Reddick said, adding, “That’s ambitious, but we hope to incorporate some incentives so that won’t be an issue. It’s a way to help them develop job skills.” 

Reddick said the system hopes to start “spending money” — on renovations and spruce-up work like painting — by Oct. 1, and have students in training by the second semester of the school year. 

Phase II is expected to add HVAC and appliance repair. 

Local partners in Phase I, according to the news release, include: 

• Commercial Construction: JA Drywall, Linda Petty, Gary Plimpton, Robert Smith, Trent Thrasher; 

• Electrical: Mack Butler, Kenneth Elkins; Jeff Phillips; 

• Plumbing: Scott Baker, Chris Machen, Dallas McElroy, Keith Spears, Jamie Woodard. 

“If you can learn a trade, you can get a job anywhere in the world,” Butler said. “It’s fantastic to be a part of this and to be able to share that knowledge.” 

Reddick said the alternative school will remain at the site, in a different part of the building. 

“Although we would like to see alternative school students be part of the program,” he added. “You’ve got to consider why kids are in alternative schools, and be concerned about those kids and their futures. Kids’ with truancy and discipline issues don’t fare too well in life, and we’d like to provide them with opportunities.” 

Reddick said even though adult participants won’t earn any credits, he’d like to see an eventual relationship with Gadsden State Community College that would help them transfer there, where they can earn credentials and two-year certifications. The students will all earn OSHA 10 certification, which will assist both potential employers and employees. 

Bellew said the system is pursuing other grants to help facilitate such training. For instance, it hopes to get the verdict in October on its application for a DRIVE (DRIving with Virtual Education) Academy, that would train students to drive a forklift or earn a commercial driver’s license in 16 weeks or less. 

“There’s a huge need for people with both certifications in our workforce region,” she said.