Florida Panhandle Vocational School Informs Retired Educators

gvnews7
Apr 15, 2024
2 min read

Speakers Larry Moore and Bryan Lee from the Florida Panhandle Vocational Technical College (FPVTC) spoke to the West Jackson Retired Educators on March 26, 2024. There were 18 in attendance at the Baptist University of Florida – Teacher Education Building, Kinchen Center.

Larry Moore, former Florida Panhandle Vocational Technical College Director (FPVTC), introduced himself and welcomed Bryan Lee, present director of FPVTC. Larry emphasized the importance of the school and its personal impact on individuals and families and the economic impact for providing qualified, certified labor in many needed fields. There are 31-32 different programs. Bryan Lee gave a wonderful power point presentation highlighting the history of the development of the school, fields of study, funding and use of funds for improvement, challenges with funding, and the future outlook. Jackson District has the second highest enrollment in their program. Florida offers enrolled high school students about 2 hours a day within their school day to attend vocational college but the programs are not limited to high school students. Most programs require about 1,000 to 1,100 hours to become certified. The nursing program and other programs at the college offer high level training that usually require a year of study. Mr. Lee encouraged people to visit their facilities and programs.

Amity Britt and Brenda Vaughn headed up the essay contest that was featured in a recent article in The Graceville News. The student’s essays were impressive. The essay winner will attend the April meeting to be honored. Pam Kitching, Brenda Vaughn, Janie Sewell, Martha Turner, Caron Harris, Phoebe Murrell, and Sue Johns read to students at Graceville during Read Across America Week. Also to be commended is the local unit’s 3,146 volunteer hours from its members. Shirley Owens was nominated from our unit to the district level as having the most volunteer hours.

The West Jackson Retired Educators welcomes all retired educational persons interested in improving our school and community. The programs are interesting and the fellowship is inviting.