Inside the brand new100,00-square-foot West Ashley Center for Advanced Studies
by Bill Davis | News Editor
There’s an old saying in education that goes: “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach; and those who can’t teach … become an administrator.”
Try telling that to Dale Metzger, the principal at the newly opened West Ashley Center for Advanced Studies (WACAS)located in a $43 million, 100,000-square-foot building next to West Ashley High School.
Before the towering Metzger was a principal, he taught math for years at WAHS and other schools. And before he taught math, he was a journeyman pipefitter at the Naval Shipyard.
Metzger knows well the path from the classroom to the trades, where some of the best-paying careers can be found locally.
The three-story WACAS facility is home to just about every kind of career technical education program you can imagine, from robotics and mechatronics to healthcare and auto repair. Though located on WAHS’s campus, it is a separate school.
“Our goal is that every student will earn career and/or college readiness certification,” says Metzger. “Students will leave here with training and industry certifications in hand, which will enable them to enter directly into the workforce or to enter institutions of higher learning better prepared for the rigors of college-level coursework, and a better understanding of their future career goals.”
Metzger’s pride is evident walking around the gleaming new facility as he spits out “Hey, look at this!” or “Hey, check this out!” as he rounds each corner.
Currently, close to 700 students from Baptist Hill, St. Johns, and WAHS take dozens of classes there a day, as several students double up on their interests. When fully manned, it will accommodate close to 1,400 students.
On the first floor, Metzger picks up “Stormbreaker,” a resin replica of the axe Thor used to dispatch Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War in one of the building’s many “makers rooms.” It’s remarkably light and accurate in detail.
Mechatronics instructor Nicholas Holmes tells Metzger to be careful. No, the blade isn’t sharp, it’s just that he hasn’t glued on the butt of the axe and it could fall off.
Back in his mechatronics lab, Holmes puts on a plastic mock-up of the Iron Man mask that’s been fitted with a battery pack and actuator that opens and closes the faceshield like in the movies.
Holmes, a former county STEM Teacher of the Year, says he wants to work with the instructor in the metal shop to hammer out metal so that they can use the water cutter and make a more realistic one.
“The problem isn’t the cutting, it’s bending the flat metal into a curved helmet,” says Holmes as he gets back to teaching.
Stepping into the welding lab, Metzger points to two walls of MIG welders and a machine he says can remove a finger quickly if not properly used and supervised. It looks … industrial.
The full-function auto shop sports enormous jacks and floor lifts where students can use lasers to properly align cars’ tires, and then roll straight down to Savannah Highway and get a job. At least, that’s the plan.
The second floor sports a full media wing, replete with a news studio and control booth, with adjoining interview areas and sound booths. Next door, a $30,000 electronics-infused mannequin teaches students in healthcare how to locate pulses and check for dilating pupils and heart sounds.
That mannequin comes with an especially authentic hand that’s been injured. If the kids can handle that, nothing will stop them from becoming a healthcare professional.
The third floor is less populated, with classrooms reserved for engineering classes and presentation/collaboration areas.
But that could be changing soon, with collaborations in the works with local companies and industries.
The center is the latest addition to the growing educational juggernaut on the campus, which now includes the high school, the new C.E. Williams Middle School, and a county library.
