Lorie Denton, executive director of the CREATE Center — short for Choccolocco Regional Education And Technical Experience — shared updates with the Kiwanis Club of Anniston on the initiative, which now hosts around 300 Oxford High School students daily and is expanding to serve students from 16 other high schools across five counties.
“We bought this building in March of ’24 and we opened the doors on August 7 of ’24. It's been a fast project,” Denton said.
A collaborative effort between Oxford City Schools, the city of Oxford and the Calhoun County Economic Development Council, the 95,000-square-foot facility — formerly occupied by Honeywell — is designed to offer workforce-aligned training without duplicating existing programs in other school districts.
“They all do fabulous jobs. We're not duplicating that. We're not trying to use resources to create something that already exists,” Denton said.
CREATE currently offers classes in engineering, green power, computer science, robotics and modern manufacturing. Additional pathways, including criminal justice, cybersecurity and mechanical industrial maintenance, are being added.
“We're really kicking up the STEM research,” Denton said.
The center also has its sights set on creating an aviation pathway, leveraging its proximity to Anniston Regional Airport and support from partners such as the FAA and regional aerospace companies.
“We are silly if we do not capitalize on the benefit of being able to offer something unique in aviation for our population in this region,” Denton said.
In addition to student programs, CREATE provides free evening commercial construction training for adults through a grant from the Alabama Construction Industry Craft Training Board. The 12-week program includes electrical, plumbing, carpentry, welding and HVAC instruction taught by local professionals.
“They are guaranteed a job with those commercial construction entities when they complete the class successfully,” Denton said.
Recently, CREATE received $1.1 million in state funding for operational costs and staffing, allowing for the expansion to additional high schools.
“The state legislature, they are now on board,” Denton said.
Looking ahead, Denton said the Department of Workforce has asked CREATE to help model similar centers across the state.
“You just took away all the barriers and all the no's for no reasons, because nobody wanted to figure it out,” she said. “But the impact that this has on our community as a whole is unbelievable.”
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