HENRY COUNTY, Va. – Henry County leaders are ensuring that the next generation is prepared to start new careers after graduating high school.
Through the Career Academy at Henry County Schools, students learn welding and all of the proper techniques to ensure metal equipment fits in the right spot.
In addition to welding, students get hands-on heating, ventilation, and air cooling experience.
High school junior, Devyn Potter, learned about electrical systems. A device he used looked like a video game, helping him prepare for a genuine HVAC unit.
“This will help in the long run with different systems; it’s probably got like 200 different wires in here and an ac unit will have way less,” Potter said.
Jerry Byrd is the H-VAC instructor at the Henry County Career Academy. His students are creating an HVAC system for the school.
Byrd challenges students like Potter by looking at wires through a video game-like device.
“We’ll take circuit boards for video games and they’ll learn how the joystick operates, how the buttons function once they learn the basics of reading a circuit and installing a circuit and move to the heat pump itself they realize it’s easier,” Byrd said.
Henry County school leaders said 80% of students who take classes enter the workforce, and the other 20% advance their education or go into the military.
“It’s been a blessing in henry county we are able to take an older building and turn it into something new and fascinating for students,” Michael Mitten, the Administrator for the Henry County Career Academy, said.