Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

The 865 Academies were founded as an avenue for children in Knox County Schools (KCS) to explore various career fields. The mission is to energize them to pursue secondary education and training, or immediately enter the workforce with a good-paying role.

In 865 Academies, which are organized and funded through the Knox Education Foundation (KEF), there are currently 1,508 job shadowing opportunities. However, at the Knoxville Chamber on Wednesday, leaders of the program asked the business community to open 2,700 more to meet the demand from students.

Wendy Clayton, KEF’s Partner Engagement Officer, encouraged businesses to look deeply into how they can appeal roles to Knoxville’s young people.

“You would be surprised about how many parts of your organization can be a ‘Yes’ for our program. We have unlimited potential in this town, and I’m sure your business would be amazed at the talent and curiosity of our young people,” Clayton said.

She detailed several ways that local companies can get involved: internships, externships, job shadowing, class tours, visiting the school, or teaching a class to a group of students.

“We need our businesses to say, ‘Yes’ at all of these levels,” she said.

Several of the companies who work with the 865 Academies spoke out at Wednesday’s Chamber event as an encouragement to other business leaders.

Perhaps, most notable was Dr. Craig Pickett, Jr., who serves as the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the overseer of the 865 Academies program at the University of Tennessee (UT) Medical Center.

“Every year, we welcome hundreds of students into our hospital to see all different career pathways available – surgeons, nurses, and medical positions, of course, but also our legal, finance, operations, and accounting departments as well,” Pickett said.

He revealed that many students don’t know about the alternative pathways at a hospital system, and there is so much variety!

For example, he had one student from KCS tour the hospital and slouch through the whole tour. She was unimpressed and disinterested until they got to the helicopter pad. Pickett said this student’s eyes lit up, she became engaged and asked dozens of questions. She wasn’t interested in a medical career, but this student always wanted to be a pilot.

“She had no idea that we hired pilots, flew helicopters, and had our own landing pad,” Pickett said. “But, how can we plug these students into careers and opportunities that they don’t know exist!”

Pickett shared two final bits of advice for the business leaders considering partnering with the 865 Academies, “One, there’s a need. Two, you can plant a seed.”

Also on the panel of business owners, Mohamed Abbas, the Senior Project Manager at Denark Construction, shared his experience giving KCS students tours of the new Smokies Stadium construction.

“It took a lot of logistics to work out how to get the students on site. But, I think I speak for the whole crew when I say it was a great experience for both the students and our team,” Abbas said.

He even allowed KCS students to sign one of the beams that will hold up the stadium for decades to come.

Last but certainly not least on the panel was Alicia Turner, the Owner of Turner Recruiting and Consulting. For nearly the past three years, she has helped corporations and organizations hire and retain the best people possible.

For her involvement with the 865 Academies, Turner hosts classes for students about how to be prepared to give a great interview.

“There’s a lot that goes into the job hiring process – there’s the resume, professional appearance, confidence, communication, and interview skills,” Turner said. “Then, once you get the job, how do you keep the job?”

Turner said it has been a joy working with the KCS students. She led 14 classes last year and requested to do even more this year.

If you want to learn more about the opportunities available with the 865 Academies, click here.

 

---