Wagener-Salley Academy of Leadership And Military Science

Wagener Salley High School’s proposal for Superintendent Dr. Sean Alford’s Thematic Programs Initiative was approved at the district’s December school board meeting and will go into effect for the 2017/18 school year.  Under the direction of Principal Ute Aadland, WSHS chose to focus the school’s theme on the strength of their leadership training through their 60-year Agricultural Education Program and their 12-year Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Program (JROTC).

The Thematic Programs Initiative is designed to accelerate learning by enhancing the preparedness of students for college and career readiness and to meet the needs of an increasingly technical and highly-skilled future workforce.  Students will have increased access to specialized coursework and technical fields of study.

Aiken County schools have each selected an academic theme that best represents their core competence.  The WSHS Academy of Leadership and Military Science rises from the school’s long tradition of leadership training in the JROTC and Ag departments.  Both programs will be expanded through additional coursework, community service and leadership activities, as well as active recruitment and partnership with their feeder school (Busbee Corbett).

WSHS plans to double JROTC participation in the next three years to where it comprises 50% of their student population.  Participation in JROTC will help students develop essential leadership skills, develop an awareness of his or her own strengths and leadership potential, and develop opportunities to practice leadership skills and civic responsibility through community service.  Ridge Spring Monetta students are bused in for JROTC, as well as for other WSHS Career and Technology (CATE) programs.  JROTC expansion will also include a new program that will incorporate working with the middle school students, specifically eighth graders.   

Agricultural Education will expand from its current 68 students in one cluster to 120 students in two clusters:  Agricultural Mechanics and Technology (Ag Mech) and Natural Resources Management.  Ag Mech will include power, structural and technical systems used in the field of agriculture, as well as much needed small engine repair instruction, and will be held in the retiring Mr. Monroe Danley’s Building and Construction lab.  Current Ag Teacher, Ethan Busbee, will teach the Natural Resources Management cluster which will include agricultural science, natural environment, livestock, and wildlife management and development, along with water and soil conservation.

Sitting in the 126,000 square foot school with the vibrancy of educating youths around us, I spoke with Ms. Aadland about this big change for our public schools. “Initially the whole idea of leadership is to empower our kids to go out and take risks,” Aadland explained. “I want them to come out of these programs with the ability to become entrepreneurs, to come out with an ‘I Can Do It’ attitude.”  Aadland attributes the importance of entrepreneurship to Wagener’s rural environment, both its need for small business as well as its need for local skilled workers (WSHS graduates) to attract more businesses and outfit current ones.  “If employers are looking at this community, they want to see what kind of workers they can get. 

“We have fabulous teachers who run these programs,” Aadland continued.  “The JROTC, for such a small unit, only twelve years old, has amassed more awards than any other school within that time period.  We have some big brass here.  We have a full-bird colonel here, Colonel Joye.  Sergeant Major Fowler retired at the rank of E9, the highest rank you get as an enlisted person in the army.  So we have two people in here who have vast experience and are very committed to this program.”

Aadland is passionate about her students.  “I see ninth graders come in who can barely look you in the eye, with no self-confidence or awareness, and they get into ROTC.  You can see the transformation – how they become more self-confident.  I see some of them two, three years later and they are in charge of events & scheduling for student-run events.  They’re learning logistics, planning, working with people, leadership, and more.  Leadership skills have to be developed.

“If I’m responsible for everything, I need to be hands-on.”  Aadland commented on her community presence, “I want people to know that I want the best for the children of this community.  They are our future.  I’ve been listening to what the kids are saying and they are asking for automotive instruction.  This is an agricultural community.  I knew I couldn’t get an automotive program, there’s only one in the district, but we can fit small engine repair within the Ag Mechanics. 

“The days when we could just graduate kids – shake their hands and say ‘see you later’ – those days are over, they need to be over.  We have a lot more responsibility now.”

WSHS implemented another of Dr. Alford’s initiatives, Post Graduation Planning, last year, a program that tracks and monitors a student’s four-year progression towards a specific college or career plan.  Under the resources of the guidance department, students receive concentrated career training, are directed to potential employers, are deliberate with course selection and develop individual e-portfolios to highlight their accomplishments.  In STEM Premier, e-portfolios are set up like a high school version of Linked-In, allowing those with STEM talent to be discovered by future employers.  STEM Premier provides tremendous practice for students to prepare for networking on Linked-In post graduation.

WSHS had the highest graduation rate in the district in 2015, the second highest in 2016.  It takes hard work to do that.  We appreciate our principals, faculty and staff for all that they do.  WSHS has the only CATE program, second only to the Aiken Career Center.