Interactive panels purchased through the JC Schools Kids FIRST bond issue were installed in Pre-K through 8th grade and JCAC classrooms across the district this summer. On Thursday, July 27, staff had the opportunity to come in for an early training session ahead of the start of school. The district is so thankful to the community for the support of this, and other, bond issue projects!

STORY BY: Anna Campbell

PHOTOS BY: Julie Smith

With new programs and facilities on the horizon, Nichols Career Center administrators are looking forward to offering new opportunities for students, while always looking to add a few more.

Nichols Career Center is a Career and Technical Education center in Jefferson City that partners with 13 area school districts to educate students in vocational and technical skills that they can take into the workplace.

Director Cody Bashore said the No. 1 thing people don't understand about Nichols is the variety of programs it offers.

Nichols offers 13 programs: social media and content development, agriculture, building trades, HVAC, welding, collision repair, automotive technology, mechatronics, graphic design, computer technology, social sciences, culinary arts and early childhood professions. With the exception of graphic design, all of those programs are also high-demand fields.

Early childhood professions is Nichols' newest program, started just this year. Bashore said it helps meet the urgent demand at daycares and preschools.

The first year is primarily spent in the classroom, but next year, second-year students will be working three days a week at locations like Southwest Early Childhood Center, the YMCA, and the Academy of Innovative Learners, gaining hours toward their Child Development Associate credentials.

Through the passage of the April 2023 bond issue, Nichols will be able to build an additional space across the street from the school to house its building trades program, which currently rents a space off-campus, and cosmetology, a new program that will hopefully have an interactive component to allow students to offer hair and nail appointments to the community, Bashore said.

Students will walk away with a cosmetology certification. The program will be available in the 2024-25 school year.

"I'd love to start a criminal justice program at some point," Bashore said, pointing to the potential for partnering with Lincoln, the state government or local police.

And while he's always looking to the future, Bashore shared some upgrades Nichols was able to make to its equipment that help current programs.

Using enhancement grants from the state, Nichols was able to add equipment including a virtual reality paint spray simulator for automotive collision, which limits the money spent on paint and the potential for mistakes.

"Kids love it; it's like playing a video game," Bashore said.

Bashore said Nichols also purchased new mannequins which can simulate vital signs, including a heartbeat and blood pressure, for health sciences.

In welding, Nichols added a new metal roller machine to allow students to roll their own steel, and in mechatronics, Nichols added a sophisticated robotic arm that is found in many factory settings and can be programmed to do a variety of assembly line tasks.

In the culinary program, Nichols has added a steam kettle to make large amounts of chicken broth.

"Some people walk into our programs, they're like, 'Oh, we don't even have that at my work.' Some of our equipment's even better than some (workplaces) because of our grant opportunities and things like that," Bashore said.

Nichols students have worked outside of the building too, building houses for Habitat with Humanity, earning clinical hours at Heisinger Bluffs, welding signs and archways for Jefferson city trails, helping with Operation Bugle Boy projects, catering major events and community meetings and placing students in 30 internships each year.

Bashore said the graduation rate at Nichols is 99 percent, compared to the state average of 91 percent. He said that's because students are passionate about the programs they're in and enjoy being with other students who share those passions, so they want to come to school.

Nichols' positive placement rate, meaning students that ended up in the military, the workforce, or some sort of post-secondary education or training program, is 97 percent. About 52 percent end up in a related field.

Many students also find they have an aptitude for skills they learn at Nichols. Last year, six students qualified to compete at the national level in SkillsUSA.

Sometimes students discover what they're studying is not something they want to pursue for a career, Bashore said, which is also valuable.

Bashore said it has been one of his personal goals to get more name recognition of Nichols and engage with people from the community.

He said he'd like to do more events in which the community can see students at work in their programs.