Signing Day isn’t just for the student-athletes

The hats were lined up across the table and the

plaudets were surely coming from all around the room. There was yet another

signing day ceremony in Warner Robins and young people were taking the next

step in the journey that is there lives. This particular signing day was

special to me, not more special, just unique, because of where the “players”

were headed. We have had an influx of football players in the county head to

play and study at Fort Valley State University (thumbs up emogi!) but did you

know Frito-Lay has signed a solid class too. Talk about flooding the local

recruiting circuit.

The Houston County Career Academy held a signing day

ceremony earlier this week for seven of the programs cadets. No these aren’t

athletes moving on to the college level to play basketball, baseball, football,

soccer, track and field etc, no, these young people are signing

letters-of-intent to continue playing the game of life. All seven signed with

FritoLay North America to work at the facility in Perry. The life-changing

decision that these students of the Hosuton County Career Academy made at the

end of their tenures with the program is so similar to the decision students

make when they join the military or commit to a college -whether for sports or

academics- and that needs to be celebrated as well. They had to get up early,

get themselves prepared to go to school and to get better at their craft.

Whether playing football or earning college credit, the seven cadets headed to

work at Frito-Lay are just as awesome as any all-state or all-region athlete.

“Today we want to pay homage to a different group of

students,” said Houston County Career Academy principal Sabrina Phelps in a

press release about the event. “These students are both college and career

ready.”

Phelps added, “We tune into the local sports channel

to see who is advancing to the next level, whether it’s high school to college

or from college to the big league.” Here’s to hoping we start having signing

day ceremonies for all of the wonderful steps these kids make.

The seven young men are big time. They earned

technical certificates of credit from Central Georgia Technical College while

completing the HCCA Industrial Maintenance Pathway. They have an idea what they

want to do for a living and, at least for the time being, where they are going

to be working. Isn’t that what the journey is about?

Logan Cowperthwaite and Jason Oberlin of Northside

High School, Kyle Ducret, Deah Honrath of Houston County High School, Austin

Cole Scarborough of Perry High School and Cameron Ross Kothe of Veterans High

School are signed and sealed and soon will be delivered to Frito-Lay. Some of

the best of the class of 2018, some of the best of what Houston County will

have to offer the working class, local economy and manufactoring industry

signed their letters-of-intent on May 22, 2018. Lets celebrate that.

HHJ News