Made in Tennessee College tour: Jackson State Community College

“We admitted our first group of students in 1967."

Over 600 students who walked through the doors of Jackson State Community College that october to be apart of the first class the school’s history.

And in the 52 years that the school has been open, there has always been one common goal according to president Allana Hamilton.

“providing accessible workforce opportunities and supporting our workforce within the region.”

Now coming into the 2019-2020 school year, JSCC is is still working on ways to continue to be accessible for anyone who wants to further their education.

One of those ways is through a new initiative called career in a year.

“we have designed programs to where students can complete a certificate program in a year or less and this will prepare them to enter a workforce or enter a career.”

The career in a year initiative aims to expedite the process of getting people back into the workforce.

“that’s what they want to do, they want to get a job and they want to be able to get the skills that they need and the credentials that they need as quickly as possible so they can start earning a living.”

The career in a year program will focus in three areas, emergency medical services, computer information technology and healthcare technician.

And after students finish the program and go to work, there are still options for them if they want to go back to school.

“these certificate programs can help be that steppingstone from a certificate to an actual AAS degree. Which is just going to strengthen the graduate’s skill sets.”

JSCC officials estimate that there will be around five thousand students taking classes this fall.