Heritage High School’s Renovated CTE Building Is Ready for Work in Blount County, TN 

Courtesy of Heritage High School

Blount County Schools plays a critical role in the region’s workforce development efforts by offering students innovative classroom and hands-on training experiences that prepare them for successful, in-demand careers. Leading the charge is the school district’s Heritage High School, which recently underwent a renovation of its Career and Technical Education (CTE) building. 

“The evaluation of in-demand careers is a big part of our CTE programming, and it’s one of the major reasons behind the renovations of our CTE building,” says Jed West, principal of Heritage High School. “Our building is over 45 years old, but the needs of our programs have definitely changed over the last 40 years. We had great support from our school board, our county commission, our director’s office and mayor’s office to support those courses in our high school programming that will help meet employment needs in the area and prepare students for post-secondary opportunities – whether that be at the college level or at a trade school or entering the workforce.” 

Courtesy of Heritage High School

Renovations include an ambulance simulator, anatomy tables and updated nursing assistant rooms for the school’s health care programs. The space also features new computer labs for STEM programs, a robotics lab for digital design classes as well as new cybersecurity and coding rooms. Other additions include a cosmetology space, a state-of-the-art welding lab and a new culinary facility, which Assistant Principal Holly Whitehead says will help grease the pipeline of talent to the region’s growing hospitality and tourism industry. 

“When you have a community that is built on hospitality like what we have in Walland with Blackberry Farm and Blackberry Mountain, we know that there’s a great demand for training programs in those areas,” she says. “The great thing about the culinary curriculum is that while it does teach the food side of things, it also teaches that hospitality side. We’re part of a direct pipeline that also includes the culinary programs at Pellissippi State Community College and TCAT.”