Butler County High School and TVA Partner for School-To-Work Program

March 18, 2010

MORGANTOWN, Ky. – Butler County High School is partnering with the Tennessee Valley Authority in the federal utility’s first school-to-work, computer-aided drafting program in Kentucky.

Through the program, known as CADNet, students learn advanced computer skills and are given the opportunity to earn money producing engineering drawings and other documents for corporate sponsors.

TVA hosted a grand opening Thursday for a computer-aided drafting lab for the program at Butler High in Morgantown. Attending were Morgantown Mayor Eva Hawes; LeAnn Crosby, field representative for U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell; Sandy Simpson, field representative for U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield; Butler County Judge Executive David Fields; TVA CADNet Manager Jim Kurtz, and other TVA representatives.

The program in Kentucky is headed by TVA CADNet Lead Eric Russell and classes are taught by Barry Carson, a computer technology teacher at Butler.

Students can begin taking classes as juniors. As seniors, they can move into the lab and work on drafting projects for sponsors and earn wages.

“We are the first school in TVA’s Kentucky service area to participate in this unique school-to-work program which will benefit many of our students,” Butler High Principal Michael Elmore said. “I hope more high schools in TVA’s service area take advantage of this invaluable training program.”

Participants in the inaugural lab at Butler High include seniors Jacob Colman Hall, Andrew Lynn Neighbors and Elias Merritt Embry.

“The program not only offers educational and job opportunities for students, it is a hands-on training ground where students learn computer skills necessary to succeed in today’s world of technology,”

TVA CADNet Manager Jim Kurtz said. “Corporate sponsors of the program receive quality work produced by local talent at competitive prices, and qualified technicians are ready to continue with higher education or better qualified to enter the workforce upon high school graduation.”

Services and instruction available through the school-to-work program include:

• Converting drawings to electronic formats with AutoCAD and Microstation software
• Scanning documents with Spicer Imagenation software
• Training in AutoCAD, Microsoft products and scanning
• Printing and reproduction
• Learning administrative skills

Since 1995, TVA’s computer-aided drafting program has grown from three students in Knoxville, Tenn., to hiring up to 165 students a year. Students compete for the jobs and the program impacts 4,500 students a year at 34 high schools in 12 east Tennessee counties, three north Georgia counties and one county in Kentucky. Businesses, industries, utilities and other organizations are encouraged to become part of the CADNet program. For more information go to http://www.tva.gov/community/cadnet.htm or contact Shane Bales, CADNet coordinator at TVA, (865) 632-8273.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a corporation owned by the U.S. government, provides electricity for utility and business customers in most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia – an area of 80,000 square miles with a population of 9 million. TVA operates 29 hydroelectric dams, 11 coal-fired power plants, three nuclear plants and 11 natural gas-fired power facilities and supplies up to 36,000 megawatts of electricity, delivered over 16,000 miles of high-voltage power lines. TVA also provides flood control, navigation, land management and recreation for the Tennessee River system and works with local utilities and state and local governments to promote economic development across the region. TVA, which makes no profits and receives no taxpayer money, is funded by sales of electricity to its customers. Electricity prices in TVA’s service territory are below the national average.

Media Contact

Jim Allen, Knoxville, (865) 632-7453
TVA Media Relations, Knoxville (865) 632-6000
TVA Newsroom