12 For Life Pilot
State Officials Plan 12 For Life Pilot Programs
More than 30 state and University of Georgia officials visited the Southwire 12 for Life facility in hopes of replicating the program in their own capacities.
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs has been studying the success of 12 for Life, Southwire’s partnership with the Carroll County School System, for several months. Officials are seeking to use the program as a model for several pilot programs around the state.
“Ultimately, we’d like to take something like this to every county - every community,” said Mike Beatty, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. “I’ve not seen a program like 12 for Life anywhere else.”
Beatty plans to start his program, Great Promise Kids, focused at the middle-school level and hopes to expand it throughout the post-secondary level. After discussions with Carroll County Chamber of Commerce CEO Daniel Jackson about the 12 for Life program, Beatty made his first visit to the facility a few months ago.
“It’s a fabulous concept and a lot of the credit is on Southwire’s part,” Beatty said.
The most recent visit marks Beatty’s third trip to the 12 for Life facility. His similar concepts will not completely duplicate the 12 for Life program, but Beatty is confident that the idea will grow successfully. He notes that he likes to see businesses working and investing in the schools.
“We see such tremendous potential in the 12 for Life program,” Beatty said.
Recently, the Fanning Institute, a research organization based at UGA, has been reviewing the aspects of 12 for Life that will work well in other situations. Mike Wiggins, executive vice president of human resources for Southwire, commented that the final results of this study have not been released, but that he views the most recent visit as a “final exam.”
“About 40 percent of the people who visited the facility today have never seen it,” Wiggins said. “They may have read reports, but it is a totally different experience to actually see it.”
Jackson says that he continues to be impressed at how Southwire and the education system combine through the 12 for Life program.
“This is one more example of how our community works together,” he said. “It shows industry and education at the table together.”
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