JOBS Commission Chair Visits School's Academy of Information Technology

On Tuesday, October 20, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and officials from the global software company SAS visited Apex High School and its national award winning Academy of Information Technology (AOIT). Dalton chairs the Joining Our Businesses and Schools (JOBS) Commission, which launched last week. The JOBS Commission aims to align the curricula of early college high schools more closely with the workforce needs of the economic development regions and enhance Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education (STEM) in the public schools.

SAS, with headquarters in Cary, NC, has partnered with the high school to support the Academy. One goal of the JOBS Commission is to encourage such partnerships in order to better prepare students for 21st Century jobs. The AOIT has a strong advisory board of volunteers from the local business community, including SAS. The advisory board assists in placing over 50 AOIT students into paid internships each year, hosting students in job shadowing and acting as guest speakers in the classroom. The AOIT advisory board model has been replicated at Apex High School in both the auto technology services and health sciences programs.