Bertie High School breaks ground on CTE wing

Soon, Bertie High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) students won’t have to take a bus across U.S. 13 to attend classes at the Bertie Early College campus.

The CTE wing will be out their backdoor.

Bertie School officials broke ground on the new Career and Technical Career wing on Monday behind Bertie High School.

Although the rain dampened Monday’s outdoor ceremony it didn’t have any effect on the excitement over the new facility soon to be housing welding, carpentry, automotive, cosmetology, entrepreneurship, along with food and nutrition classes.

Bertie County Schools Superintendent Dr. Otis Smallwood welcomed school board, county and local officials along with educators and friends to the event. State lottery officials were on hand, along with architect Al Chesson of A.R. Chesson, contractor for the build.

“What you will witness today and over the next few months, is our vision and mission in real time. The vision of Bertie County Public schools is to make sure students have opportunities and access to reach their full potential. We are preparing students for life beyond public schools,” said Dr. Smallwood. “In 2019, when I was hired by the board, they were very clear about three big things they wanted me to accomplish as superintendent. One was to come up with a building usage plan because of enrollment, increase CTE offerings and improve student outcomes. I am happy to say that we’ve made great strides in all three, but today we’re going to focus on CTE, and of course, that’s Career and Technical Education.”

Since 2019 the district has increased CTE offerings adding agricultural education to the middle school curriculum, and added cosmetology through a partnership with Martin Community College.

“Although the district offered auto mechanics previously, that program is now an accredited college class, here at our campus, which ensures that our students will earn college credits for free. That is the same thing for cosmetology,” added Smallwood.

The district applied for the needs-based grant through the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

“We were blessed to be afforded the opportunity for this project through the state lottery. This is a multimillion dollar project and will be completed without any financial burden to the Bertie County tax payer. So I encourage you all to keep buying those lottery tickets,” said Smallwood.

“It’s an honor to be here today to celebrate our new wing of the career and technical education building. This ceremony is a significant milestone, and our commitment to provide students with the skills and knowledge that they’re going to need to thrive in the 21st century workforce,” Bertie County Board of Education chair Reba Carlton said. “We’re incredibly grateful for the support of our community, partners, staff and all who have helped make this a reality. I would especially like to thank our Superintendent, Dr. Otis Smallwood, for having the vision.”

N.C. Education Lottery Communications Director Adam Owens was also on hand to witness the ground breaking.

“I am the Communications Manager with the North Carolina Education Lottery, and I want to be among the first people to congratulate you for essentially winning the lottery. That’s basically what just happened here,” Owens said. “It is an honor for me to be here for this groundbreaking. I attend a lot of these around the state.”

“Bertie County is one of 58 counties to receive the special grant that you received for this new building that will be coming out of the ground soon,” he continued. “It is funded with money, as you heard earlier, that was raised by the lottery for school construction. Bertie County received $15 million that we raised with the lottery. We take a lot of pride in the role we play, making these things happen.”

Last year, the lottery raised more than a billion dollars for education in North Carolina.

Al Chesson of A.R. Chesson was excited to be back on the Bertie High School campus. Chesson explained when his company was chosen to build Bertie High School 15 years ago, they had planned for a future CTE wing to be constructed behind the school.

“When we designed this high school we always, had a master plan. We knew we were not going to have all the money, but we did plan for a CTE edition in the back,” Chesson said. “And it wasn’t exactly the configuration that we came up with because there’s so many details that go into it. But I think it’s important to realize that this was part of the master plan that we were going to have a space to expand this school and expand the school for careers and technical education.”

Chesson offered a detailed overview of the project and the high-tech contemporary facility with numerous automotive and welding bays, 20 cosmetology chairs and smooth coated walls, replacing painted cinder block bricks in the offices and the main salon.

Although the rain was intermittent, there was a quick break in the showers for a ceremonial groundbreaking. The project is currently underway and completion is anticipated by the new school year.