MCCU Joins Battle Creek Central High School as Career Academies Partner

Marshall Community Credit Union (MCCU) recently became finance partners with the Battle Creek Central High School (BCHHS) and their Career Academics program.

The BCCHS Career Academies are small learning communities within the school that integrate traditional academic coursework with work-based opportunities. All Battle Creek Central students are a part of the Career Academies, turning the high school into a wall-to-wall, state-of-the-art education experience. The Academies bridge the gap between classroom experiences and career expectations, empowering students to excel in school, the workforce and beyond.

Every BCCHS Career Academies student receives the following:

• Career exploration opportunities to help them identify their passions and career goals
• Soft skills training that translates to any career field 
• Hands-on experience in purposeful area of career focus

In addition to earning a high school diploma, every BCCHS Career Academies student has the opportunity to graduate with either an industry-recognized credential or college credit.

“We are so excited to be a part of the Career Academies program at Battle Creek Central,” said MCCU Financial Education Coordinator Andrea Tucker. “We are already very involved in area schools, offering free classroom presentations, financial education resources for teachers, as well as grants and incentives to our partner schools. When presented with the opportunity to become even more involved with BCCHS students and staff, and have a partnership that has the same goals that we do, to prepare students for adulthood, and to provide them with career readiness and education, it made perfect sense for us to become a Career Academies partner.”

BCCHS students have eight different pathways they can choose from, including Information Technology, Finance, Business, Engineering and Skilled Trades, Nursing, Health Care, Public Service and Education.

Each pathway was selected through a collaborative community effort to reflect current needs and economic grown trends in Battle Creek. This collaborative effort includes area businesses, non-profits, civic and community organizations, service agencies, students, parents, teachers and administrators.

“We are excited to have Marshall Community Credit Union as a partner organization!  Engagement from the MCCU team will help BCCHS students to not only better understand and integrate financial literacy concepts in their personal lives, but will also help them to understand how individual interest and aptitude can be translated into a career in Finance,” said Goodwill Industries Community Engagement Specialist Sarah Kerry. “Students will be opened up to career options that they never knew about and will be able to build up a personal network of professionals who can help them to refine their interests as they get closer to becoming a part of our local workforce.”