Berkeley Independent
Boeing broke ground Nov. 20 and production of the jet is set to begin in 2011 at the site near the Charleston International Airport.
“The potential is tremendous with a quality organization such as Boeing,” Parker said. “I’m really excited . . . I see nothing but benefits from it.”
The district is adding a middle college at Trident Technical College’s Berkeley Campus near Moncks Corner and is working closely with the technical college, Parker said.
At the district’s Jan. 27 school board meeting the board approved a grant application for the middle college. If everything goes according to schedule, 100 Berkeley County high school juniors and seniors should be taking college courses at Trident’s Berkeley Campus by the 2010-2011 school year.
“That’s going to be one of the beginning stages in that partnership so that we can expose our students and the public as a whole to the campus at Berkeley,” Parker said.
“What we’re looking at is what we can start specifically that’s going to place our students into a position where they can proceed into a program at Trident Tech. Even while they’re in school they’d pursue a program that would put them in a position where they could get a job at Boeing.
“We’re all looking at how we’re going be able to make that happen.”
Parker said there are “higher-ed” partnerships that go beyond just the public schools. Parker is also looking to work with Charleston Southern University, The Citadel, The College of Charleston and even Clemson and the University of South Carolina.
“This is going to be an interesting thing for South Carolina,” he said. “I think it certainly will bring more people to the area. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing for the young people to stay here and go to college and work right here with a quality career opportunities that you’d want them to have, and they don’t have to leave here to go find it?”
Parker said there’s still a lot of guessing going on in the community as to how exactly schools and the community will be affected.
“We’re all talking about it right now,” he said. “I think it’s going to take some time in the form of some planning opportunities. I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight, where Boeing is going to have an immediate presence here. They’ve still got to build the plant and get everything ready to go.
“The plus is, it’s a definite – it’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of time. It’s going to afford us the time to prepare for it.
“The entire area is going to have a great future if we all work together, if we all focus on the same page as far as the quality of what we want to have.”
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