Overview

Seymour Community School Corporation (SCSC) is working to increase capacity and opportunity for students by improving the consistency, quality and intentionality of Career and Technical Education (CTE) instruction in Jackson County. SCSC has made a concerted effort to grow its footprint in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) space. Efforts began in 2015 with the introduction of Owl Manufacturing, a student run enterprise consisting of several manufacturing related cells that gave students real world experience in the areas of sales, marketing, design, lean manufacturing, delivery, billing, and continued customer service. The experience was built around courses approved by the Indiana Department of Education and featured an Owl Advisory Board made up of executives from many corporate partners such as Aisin, Cummins, Excel, Premiere Ag, Rose Acre, Valeo, the Community Foundation of Jackson County, and JCBank. Owl Manufacturing quickly became recognized within the state as an excellent model for innovation in the Career and Technical Education realm, even gaining the notice of Governor Eric Holcomb. During the 2018-19 school year, the Seymour Community School Corporation opened the Ag Science Research Center on a 110-acre school farm within the Freeman Field Industrial Park in Seymour. The facility has allowed the Seymour Community School Corporation to expand its agricultural programs as well as those in manufacturing, specifically welding, and precision machining. In May 2019, the House Enrolled Act 1002 set the stage for increasing and improving Career and Technical Education programs around the state and within Jackson County. After meeting with local corporate executives, the Seymour Community School Corporation decided to adapt the Owl Manufacturing program to incorporate a Digital Manufacturing Makerspace. This decision comes at a great expense in equipment replacement and upgrades. Retooling the various industry labs in all areas is requiring significant expense in equipment and remodeling. This program will be available to other close schools that may not have programs close by. There is a tie in with local industry leading to mentoring and eventually jobs. The Seymour Community School Corporation began a $54 M construction project by accepting bids in July 2021. This larger construction project included improvements at the 5-6 grade campus with over $3,000,000 in improvements at the Seymour High School Family and Consumer Science Center and the Ag Science Center aimed at better meeting the needs of a growing school corporation. The READI project will consist of the improvements at the Seymour High School’s Ag Science Center with the ARPA funding to be utilized for the Greenhouse at the center. The Greenhouse was removed from the larger project to the high costs of construction. The infusion of $1,200,000 in READI, ARPA funding will enable the SCSC to bid the construction of the greenhouse for the Ag Science Center in 2022-2023 and obtain equipment for the Digital Manufacturing Makerspace and precision Machinery for the Advanced Manufacturing Program. The funding fills the gap caused by the pandemic’s increase in construction cost and will allow for the initial project to be whole. To fully outfit all these programs of study with the necessary equipment to meet industry standards, as well as meet the needs of a growing student population, READI support is needed. It is anticipated the greenhouse construction at the Ag Science Center would be bid in late 2022, completed in 2023 with precision machinery equipment purchased in the 2022-2023 school year. And the Makerspace and Project Lead the Way equipment is expected to be purchased in 2023 – 2024.