Fort Payne City Schools unveils its new BEAT Center dedicated to STEM-focused vocational education

April 18, 2024 · Projects, Community

Governor Kay Ivey gave remarks and participated in the ribbon cutting for Fort Payne High School’s BEAT Center at Fort Payne High School Monday April 8, 2024 in Fort Payne, Ala. The BEAT Center is a STEM-focused vocational building, which will provide students with career-specific training in construction, electric vehicles and aviation. In 2021, Governor Ivey joined Fort Payne school leaders to break ground on the center.(Governor’s Office /Hal Yeager)

Fort Payne City Schools is taking education to new heights with its newly constructed BEAT Center, dedicated to providing advanced vocational programs for students.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey helped cut the ribbon on the new BEAT Center alongside Superintendent Brian Jett and the Fort Payne Board of Education on April 8, 2024. State and local officials including Senate Majority Leader Steve Livingston, Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell, Mayor Brian Baine and the members of the Fort Payne City Council, DeKalb County were also present. Commission President Ricky Harcrow and District 3 Commissioner Ron Safferite, NACC President Dr. David Campbell, former board President Jimmy Durham and former Superintendent Jim Cunningham, Crystal Talley of ADECA, Kevin Anderson of TARCOG and representatives of Goodwyn Mills Cawood, the architects who designed the center, attended as well.

The programming offered to students through the BEAT Center, which stands for Building, Electrical Vehicle and Aviation Technology, will provide experiences and expertise like no other and is considered a supplement to their education. The building came to fruition after Fort Payne was award a $1 million grant from the Governor’s office through the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), as well as local matching funds.

“Today we have something big to celebrate,” Ivey said. “Today, thanks to a lot of hard work by so many, we will finally cut the ribbon. The range and depth of offerings at Fort Payne Schools is unrivaled for a system of this size.”

Located on the Fort Payne High School campus, the BEAT Center’s innovative design includes three classrooms, two dedicated workplace bays for building construction, electric automotive and aviation technology. This is not only the first building of its kind for the high school, but the first of its kind for the school district as a whole. In addition, the building is designed to serve as a storm shelter with capacity for the school’s 1,100 students in the event of an emergency.

“Today marks a signification milestone in our school district to provide students with the skills and knowledge that they need to thrive in the 21^st century workforce,” Jett said. “This represents substantial investment in STEM-focused vocational education. These spaces will allow our students to engage in learning experiences similar to real world projects.”

Fort Payne High School began offering aviation classes focused on drone technology in 2023. Through this class, students can earn FAA certifications for drone flight on the FPHS campus. The drone lab started as part of Fort Payne’s AV Communications class as there was no state regulated curriculum for it previously. Given its success, Aviation/Drone Instructor Steve Black and a counterpart at Central High School were asked by the State to develop curriculum that will become a pathway for the next school year. The new BEAT Center has dedicated spaces for this drone lab and provides opportunities to support even more aviation education.

“Now any student that earns a 107c commercial drone license earns a credential through the State Department of Education,” Black said. In this course, students learn much of what those studying to be pilots would study. Once they complete in-class study, they go to an FAA testing facility.

In the building construction program, students will use industry tools and collaborate to construct a tiny home. Partnerships with local industries will also connect them to prospective employers.

“The BEAT Center represents a new era in vocational education,” said Career Tech Director Dan Groghan. “We are committed to providing our students with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in today’s workforce. With the BEAT Center, we’re not just building structures; we’re building futures.”

Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC) provided architecture, interior design, civil engineering, landscape architecture, geotechnical engineering and construction materials testing on the project. Other project partners include Nearen Construction, Tucker Jones Engineers, MW/Davis Dumas & Associates and Hyde Engineering.

“Thanks to the vision of Fort Payne school leaders. We’re preparing the Alabama workforce and the economy of tomorrow one student at a time,” Ivey said.

Students will begin using the BEAT Center for the 2024-2025 school year.