HANCOCK CO. — The collaborative high school Hancock County career center, nicknamed the Hancock County Career Center or HC3, has named Stan Wilkison the director for the career and technical education (CTE) classes. Wilkison is currently the assistant principal of Mt. Vernon High School and will remain in this role while he begins the career center position on a part-time basis this fall. The director’s hours and stipend are planned to increase each year until it becomes a full-time position in 2026 when the building is opened.
Wilkison will be overseeing all operations for the high school career center that will reach grades 9-12 within Hancock County and beyond. Wilkison will be responsible for promoting the shared CTE courses with counselors at all four county schools, managing enrollment, as well as assisting with staffing decisions and evaluations.
The purpose of adding CTE programs is to better prepare students for post-secondary education and the workforce. Expanding programs that offer dual credit and industry certifications ensure students are ready to continue learning in their chosen field and possibly earn a college degree. Many will graduate high school with certifications that allow them to be immediately employed in their chosen industry.
Currently, the four county high schools are offering a variety of in-house, dual-credit CTE courses to any county student. Classes will be available in the morning and/or afternoons, depending on the host school. Vocational courses to be offered include:
• Aviation
• Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) I and HVAC II
• Health Science I and Health Science II
• Welding I and Welding II
• Criminal Justice I and Criminal Justice II
• Computer Science
• Veterinary Science
Another shared program to be launched in the near future is Construction Trades that will be hosted at Southern Hancock High School.
During his tenure at Mt. Vernon High School, Wilkison developed seven CTE courses in three years where nearly 200 students have earned over 2,500 hours of dual credits from a partner university.
