As the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce rolls out its five-year strategy for economic and talent development this fall, it’s not alone in its efforts to prepare new generations for the jobs of the future.
Hamilton County Schools, one of the Chamber’s partners and a founder of Chattanooga 2.0, has rolled out 28 industry-themed institutes embedded in local high schools in the past two years aimed specifically at preparing high school students for a variety of in-demand industries.
The brainchild of Superintendent Bryan Johnson, the Future Ready Institutes initiative was announced in March 2018 and now enrolls more than 2,000 students in 9th and 10th grades at 28 institutes across 13 high schools.
“We know that in order for the community to thrive, it has to be intentional with education,” Johnson said at the time of the launch. “How can you do that when you’re not engaging business and industry in what they really need, asking what are the jobs of tomorrow and the vacancies of today and what are the real-world problems we can use today?”
Career themes vary from health care to information technology to advanced manufacturing and engineering. Seven of the institutes have an official, branded partner with a local business or organization.