Recent employment reports may indicate a mixed labor market – but there are jobs aplenty in Alabama. The office of Governor Kay Ivey says 2025 was a record breaking year for economic development with more than nine thousand new jobs on the horizon. We’re not talking about just any jobs, but ones that require an educated workforce. Baldwin County is home to a career tech public high school that’s helping meet the demand.
Megann Todd and Jessinia Jones are Baldwin Preparatory Academy Ambassadors. On this day, they’ve traded their industry shirts and scrubs for navy blazers. These students are armed with a wealth of knowledge as they lead a school tour for out of state visitors.
Todd is a welding student. Jones wants a career in healthcare. They both study in a sleek, modern building with state of the art classrooms. Whether manufacturing or medicine, it’s designed to simulate today’s industry with students learning in a real-world work environment. Principal Adam Sealy says Baldwin Prep is a blueprint for a new kind of career tech.
“Years ago, it was that’s where the bad kids go and now it’s where the motivated kids go,” he said.
The teens are motivated because students graduate with both workforce certifications and dual enrollment from nearby Coastal Alabama Community College. It’s a game changer for Todd who wasn’t always a fan of high school.
“So by the time I graduate, I only need to take my English Class and then I’ll be able to get my associates degree in welding,” she said.
The Baldwin Prep model is the first of its kind in the state. Here local industry partners with teachers to help design curriculum. And industry recognized credentials are embedded into dual enrollment classes. Students also get something else hiring professionals look for - lessons in soft skills - things like responsibility, teamwork, and communication. Principal Sealy says it’s a win-win for both students and employers.
“We’re giving them an employee that’s been vetted for three years that we can say we know have the skills and the talent to be a good employee,” Sealy observed.
Those employees are in demand in south Alabama. Josh Duplantis is Dean of Workforce and Economic Development for Coastal Alabama Community College.
“Just with recent economic development um announcements isprobably eclipsing probably six, seven billion in investment and that relates to over 8,000 jobs, new jobs,” he said.
To prepare for those jobs, students choose from twelve career pathways in fields like healthcare, manufacturing, aviation, construction, and cyber security. The training is rigorous. Like in this welding lab where sparks fly as Megann Todd, who we met earlier, joins two pipes together.
Todd and many of her classmates will go directly into the workforce. Others will transfer their credits to college. About a third of Baldwin Prep students are low income but dual enrollment credits are free for everyone – compliments of the state of Alabama. Here’s Josh Duplantis:
“We have a lot of apprenticeship programs to where, if it requires a full degree, maybe that student already has 9, 12, 15, 18 credit hours in the in that thing. So, it actually frees them up to do less school and and more or learning on the job,” he said.
Area industry adds extra dollars to the school programs through sponsorships. Duplantis says the return on the investment for both the state and industry is a well-trained employee who knows what they want and who chooses to develop a career in south Alabama.
“Because we need them to stay here, and we need more people to come with the job demands that we have in front of them,” he noted.
One company counting on Baldwin Prep grads is Novelis. The company manufactures aluminum sheet used to make cans and car parts. Later this year, it will open a five-billion dollar plant up the road from Baldwin Prep. Novelis is looking to fill up to a thousand jobs. Plant Manager Tori Holt says the career tech school played a role in site selection.
“I think Baldwin Prep was like the cherry on top,” Holt said.
While the dollar amount is a closely guarded secret, the company has invested heavily in the school and its dual enrollment curriculum.
“And so we are thinking about tomorrow. So we know for us to be here for that amount of time, we have to make sure that we have a constant flow of talent,” said Holt.
And Holt predicts, students graduating from Baldwin Prep will enter the labor force with a five to seven year advantage over students without dual enrollment credentials. Welding student Todd is counting on that boost.
“After I go into the workforce for maybe five years or so, I want to go over and be a welding instructor,” she thought aloud.
With both a high school diploma and associates degree within reach, it’s a solid plan.
Anchor tagout –A version of this story previously ran on Marketplace.
