The LeCroy Career Technical Center in Clanton reported record enrollment for daytime classes this fall.

The center currently has nearly 600 students, which is the most it has had in more than 40 years, enrolled in morning and afternoon classes.

LCTC Director Tommy Glasscock said reasons for the higher enrollment could be that enrollment at local schools is higher, and more students are interested in learning a skill they can use after high school, whether they plan to go to college or straight into the workforce.

“The pendulum has swung in getting our students college and career ready,” Glasscock said. “A lot of them see the need to get a skill even if they are going to a four-year school.”

Glasscock said the center is “somewhat overcrowded” since it is equipped for 500 students, but the addition of new classes has helped disperse the influx of students.

The center has implemented a CEO (Career Exploration Opportunities) program for 10th graders in which they will hear from and talk to local business and industry representatives, research occupations they are interested in, create a job resume, write an essay and make a presentation about an occupation in front of the class.

Career Exploration Opportunities is intended to serve as a pre-requisite to help students determine which programs they want to enter as juniors, such as robotics, electronics or horticulture.

“They will enroll in particular programs in Fall 2015,” Glasscock said of the students in this year’s CEO program. “This helps them choose what they want to do.”

Glasscock said other factors contributing to the center’s record enrollment are the robotics, engineering and Public Service Academy programs individually have seen increases in enrollment, and more students are taking advantage of being able to earn college credit while earning high school credit through the center’s partnership with Jefferson State Community College in Clanton.

“Students are no longer being placed on a track of college or work,” Glasscock said. “Students who obtain a set of skills are able to pursue both, and in some cases, finance their way through a two-year or four-year college. By taking academics and embedding it into the career tech courses, we are changing the way we educate our students.”

Glasscock said the center is looking at adding a new math and science building to its campus in the future.

“We’re to the point we really could use some space,” he said.

The center also offers evening classes in welding, electronics, HVACR and industrial maintenance.

For more information, contact the center at (205) 280-2920 or visit Lecroytech.com.