‘Preparing our kids for the future’: Cullman Area Technology Academy receives high praise from national, state career tech education advocacy groups

‘Preparing our kids for the future’: Cullman Area Technology Academy receives high praise from national, state career tech education advocacy groups

Published 10:41 am Wednesday, September 24, 2025

A group of state and national career tech advocates selected the Cullman Area Technology Academy as one of the stops along a tour of Alabama’s educational facilities on Monday, Sept. 22.

CATA Director Susan Patrick said she was informed over the summer that the school had been chosen for a visit after Alabama joined the national Association for Career and Technical Education  (ACTE), the nation’s largest non-profit dedicated to the advancement of career tech education.

Members of both ACTE and the Alabama Association for Career and Technical Education (ALACTE) were given an up close view of five of CATA’s 15 available programs: Health Sciences, Cybersecurity, Precision Machining, Utility Line Worker and Cosmotology.

Students demonstrated the hands-on job skills they had learned during their time in the program, with future linemen offering a pole-climbing demonstration and those in the machining program discussing their partnership with NASA.

When touring CATA’s largest program, Health Sciences — which currently enrolls around 130 students according to Patrick’s estimates — guests were given a first-hand account of why the program is considered so valuable to students.

“Healthcare has always interested me, but I just really love the environment here,” said Amber McCloud, a senior who said she plans to continue her education to become a veterinary technician in the future. “I know this class will prepare me for what I will actually be doing in the future.”

The tour also included CATA’s newest — and fastest growing — cybersecurity program, which, according to instructor Chase Nelson, has nearly doubled its enrollment this year.

“One of the things I love about, not just my shop, but CATA in general, is that we find what works for our students,” Nelson said. “It’s one of the best things about CATA. Every student has a place here.”

ACTE’s manager of government relations, Jimmy Koch, said one of the organization’s recent focuses has been on instructor retention, and believed that CATA had provided a great model as far as employee selection.

“I think one of the things that is really standing out to me here today, is that the teachers are just so inspiring,” Koch said. “They are really just so passionate about what they are doing.”

As the Cullman County Board of Education, which recently announced the construction of a new, expanded, state-of-the-art STEM Academy, continues its investment in career education, Patrick said the visit had validated the district’s efforts in career and technical education advancement.

“CATA has always had a great reputation in the state for the programs we offer and the instructors we have, and we have great students,” Patrick said. “I think with ACTE acknowledging that, it just validates the work we are doing and that we are continuing that path of excellence in preparing our kids for the future.”