Pictured: Dr. Rick Surrency, Instructor Eddie Parcher, Jayden Monroe,  Holly Pickens and Renee Hough

At the regular Putnam County School Board meeting on Tuesday, Renee Hough, Director of Career and Technical Education, introduced Eddie Parcher as the instructor for the new career pathway courses with the Building Construction Technologies program at Interlachen Jr-Sr High School.

According to Amanda Burney and Mrs. Hough, several construction-related businesses in our community came together and brought in NCCER, a leader in training for construction training.

It is projected that the job market is expected to grow by 6% nationally by the year 2030.  Regionally, for Northeast Florida, construction trades are expected to grow by 4.7% by 2029.*  There is a clear need for students to be trained in this industry.

The Northeast Florida Community Foundation awarded PCSD a $100,000 grant to get the program started. An appropriation from the state of Florida for $523,000 will keep the program going.

*Information from CareerSource North Florida and US Bureau of Labor & Statistics