Port Allen High School junior Allyson Parton grew up intrigued by welding, watching her cousin practice the craft. As the 2025-2026 school year begins in West Baton Rouge, she’ll soon get a chance to try it for herself.
“When I graduate, I want to go to a trade school for welding,” Parton said. “I really just want to learn all the basic skills this year.”
The first day of school at the West Baton Rouge Career Academy brought new class options and a new wave of students like Parton excited to learn about the trades.
Port Allen High School students walks in at the West Baton Rouge Career Academy on the first day of school on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
Enrollment at the career and technical education center, a model seen as part of the solution to Louisiana’s skilled workforce shortages, jumped to around 350 students from last school year to the beginning of 2025-2026 — an increase of over 100 students.
The academy is also expanding its offerings, with courses in medical terminology and industrial electronics. It first opened next door to Port Allen High School in fall 2024 with a $1.3 million grant from the Louisiana Department of Education.
Nicholas Culmone, 11th grader at Port Allen High School works on a tape measure assignment at the West Baton Rouge Career Academy on the first day of school on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
“Workforce has a great need for quality employees, and the more experience we can get our students while they’re in high school, to be prepared to go into that workforce and to be those quality employees, the better,” academy supervisor Candice Breaux said. “Any experiences that we can give them just builds their toolbox that they can use later on in life for whatever career they go into.”
As students entered the front doors of the academy Thursday morning, asking how to find the carpentry or human body systems classrooms, the excitement to be back on campus was palpable.
“Ms. Jenkins, did you miss me?” one student asked.
'A craft that can get them started'
On the first day, students focused on safety protocol and practice with the basic tools of their trade.
In introductory carpentry, kids tested their handiness with tape measures, following a reference guide as they made marks along a wooden board. They’ll learn how to make toolboxes and birdhouses in the coming year, using machinery like the bandsaw and the planer.
Ian Dotson, left and Nicholas Culmone, 11th graders at Port Allen High School works on a tape measure assignment at the West Baton Rouge Career Academy on the first day of school on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
“They come in and see everything is ready to rock and roll,” academy coordinator Jill Edwards said. “They’re excited.”
Administrators and instructors were also happy to be back with the students, many of whom are returners from last year. Medical assistant instructor Rachel Crochet, who helped direct students to their classrooms on the first day, said the academy gives the kids an advantage in the job market when they graduate.
“This gives them the opportunity to finish with some type of skill when going out into the workforce,” Crochet said. “They have a craft that can get them started.”
Port Allen High School senior Tyler Gilbert viewed the academy in a similar way: a “jumpstart,” he said. He hopes to become an electrician after graduation, like his uncle.
“My uncle is an electrician, and I was seeing all the stuff he was getting, all the toys he was getting,” Gilbert said. “I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do.’”