Life

Crossroads to Higher Education

With 12 public school districts, three charter schools, and seven private and parochial schools, Jackson County is a great place for children and teens to start or continue their paths towards success. Although close in proximity, each school is distinct and offers every child in the area a learing environment rich in resources and tradition.

The school districts in Jackson County are: Columbia School District, Concord Community Schools, DaVinci Institute, East Jackson Community Schools, Grass Lake Community Schools, Hanover-Horton School District, Jackson Area Catholic Schools, Jackson Arts and Technology Academy, Jackson Christian Schools, Jackson County Intermediate School District, Jackson Public Schools, Michigan Center School District, Napoleon Community Schools, Northwest Community Schools, Paragon Charter Academy, Springport Public Schools, Stockbridge Community Schools, Trinity Lutheran School, Vandercook Lake Schools, and Western School District.

The Jackson County Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores can be viewed online, as well as the Office of Educational Assessment & Accountability results for Jackson County through the Michigan Department of Education.

Furthermore, there are three higher learning institutions directly in Jackson County - Spring Arbor University, Baker College and Jackson Community College. Fifteen additional institutions are within one hour of Jackson County, including the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Albion College and Cooley Law School.

The Academy for Manufacturing Careers (AMC)

For those more apt to develop skilled trades, the Academy of Manufacturing Careers is a certified Registered Apprenticeship Program by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Academy is sponsored by and delivered through the Jackson Area Manufacturers Association in partnership with South Central Michigan Works!

Hosmer Center for Entrepreneurial Development

The Hosmer Center for Entrepreneurship at Spring Arbor University will have a multi-faceted impact on its academic programs. Not only will courses offered through the Center become part of an innovative business curriculum, the Center will provide interdisciplinary options for students pursuing other majors to be influenced by entrepreneurial and inventive thinking. Throughout the curriculum, Spring Arbor students will be able to study with educators, scientists and business leaders through collaborative learning and conferencing opportunities across the country and around the world. Historically, universities and colleges have focused on teaching business fundamentals, but SAU plans to go beyond textbook to provide cutting-edge training, relevant to those who want to start a new company or move up within an established company. Instruction will serve to develop an understanding of the vast array of persons and resources that form our global community.

Project Lead the Way

Project Lead the Way is a national high school-based program that makes math and science relevant to students. A middle school version of the program is called Gateway to Technology. By engaging in hands-on, real-world projects, students understand how the skills they learn in the classroom can be applied in everyday life. This approach is called activities-based, project-based and problem-based learning (or APPB-learning, for short). Research has shown that schools practicing APPB-learning experience an increase in student motivation, cooperative learning skills, higher-order thinking and student achievement. The Jackson County Intermediate School District is aggressively rolling out both Project Lead the Way and Gateway to Technology throughout the county. Existing area hands-on learning programs like the I Can Make It Camp, Machining U and Shop Rats have been aligned to connect seamlessly with the two new programs. This allows kids and teens throughout the school district with in-classroom and extracurricular opportunities to build advanced math, science, technology, engineering and computer-aided manufacturing skills.

Jackson Community College - Manufacturing Training

This program provides training for manufacturing professionals, with the first of a five-part series soon to be offered by Jackson Community College through its Business & Industry Support Center (BISC). The Association for Operations Management's (APICS) Production and Inventory Management Certification program educates manufacturing professionals on essential terminology, concepts and strategies related to demand management, procurement and supplier planning. It also provides information on material requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, sales and operations planning and master scheduling. BISC will begin the first of this five-module Production and Inventory Management program beginning early 2008 to be offered at the Jackson campus in Justin Whiting Hall. This nine-week course will cover Basics of Supply Chain Management. Topics will include:

Certified APICS instructors will lead their respective classes. Each of the five modules in the program has their own optional assessment and certification attached to them. The CPIM certification is available upon passing all five individual assessments.

The Jackson Legacy Program

The Jackson Legacy Program, a newly created initiative much like The Kalamazoo Promise, is supported by the three IHEs through annual scholarships of $3,000. Scholarships are awarded to Jackson County high school graduates, which attend Baker College, Jackson Community College or Spring Arbor University. The program’s mission states that it is designed “to cultivate productive citizens through effective, relevant education; to provide Jackson County high school graduates with opportunities to further their education; and to revitalize Jackson County.” The program is sponsored by the Jackson County Community Foundation