Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce

For over seventy years the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce has been on the forefront of a variety of community issues.  Those issues vary with the times and the needs of the community but one issue has remained constant – the Chamber’s support of public education.  The Chamber has partnered with the Decatur City Schools on several major projects throughout the years, including:

The Chamber committed $10,000 to the hiring of a consultant that eventually raised over $1 million for the Decatur City Schools Foundation.

The Chamber committed $80,000 to the Decatur City Schools to renovate and open the Professional Training Center on Bank Street.

The Chamber formed the Business/Education Roundtable, which assigns a business executive to each city school to present student of the month awards.  The Roundtable also serves as a speaker’s bureau for the school system.

The Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce works diligently with the Decatur City Schools on other ongoing programs, such as:

Partners-In-Education

The Chamber-sponsored Partners-In-Education program is designed to tap resources from business and industry to enrich educational programs, which are offered to Decatur students.  Partnerships foster special bonds of cooperation and mutual respect between schools and the businesses or industries.  Representatives from business and industry become a part of this program by joining in a partnership and by making a commitment to become actively involved.  This involvement includes working with the principal and teachers to meet the specific needs of the school and its students.

The Decatur City Schools are committed to educational excellence and to adequately preparing today’s students for living and working successfully in tomorrow’s world.  This is a great responsibility and an enormous challenge.  In order to meet this challenge, new and creative approaches are being implemented to deal with the rapidly expanding knowledge explosion and the vast degree of technological advances.

Expectations of schools are increasing and the support and active participation of the broader community can help make Decatur schools even better places for students to learn and to grow.  The expertise within the business community is a powerful and potential resource, which can open up the walls of many classrooms to add a very valuable and relevant dimension to learning.

Youth Leadership Morgan County

“Working Together for Tomorrow’s Leaders”

Youth Leadership Morgan County is a nine-month leadership program for high school sophomores and juniors. The program is designed to develop an energetic group of informed and qualified young leaders providing leadership in their schools and community. 

Interested students apply in the spring of their 9th and 10th grade year.  They may obtain an application from their high school counselor, principal, or from the web site of the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce www.dcc.org.  Applicants must have an overall ‘C’ average and are required to submit two references, one reference from someone involved with the student at school and one reference from someone outside school.  Emphasis will be placed on leadership qualities, potential leadership qualities, essay and participation in curricula in school as well as outside school.  There is a selection committee who will evaluate each application and score each category listed on the application equally.

Curriculum Development / Co-op Program

The Curriculum Development / Co-op Program is a subcommittee of the Chamber’s Workforce Development Committee.  The purpose of this subcommittee is to develop secondary and post-secondary educational programs to meet the needs of existing business and industry.  The subcommittee promotes educational programs to maintain advanced technologies and attract emerging technologies for our area.  In September 2003, Calhoun Community College officially rolled out two new introductory courses in process technology and occupational health.

Workforce Expo

The Chamber-sponsored Workforce Expo is an excellent opportunity for students, parents and teachers to talk with local companies about job opportunities, skill set requirements and educational requirements for employment in the Decatur-Morgan County area.  This annual one-day event takes place at the Aerospace Training Center at Calhoun Community College.

High School Senior Survey

The Chamber’s Workforce Development Committee conducts an annual survey of high school graduates form area schools to determine the educational and career opportunities they have chosen.  The students will be asked to complete a follow up to the survey five years after high school graduation.  This information will be evaluated to help assist the school system in determining if students are successful in their post-secondary efforts and what we might do in the local school system to “raise the bar” and better prepare our students for post secondary life.

New Teacher Luncheon

The New Teacher’s Luncheon is sponsored by the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce and coincides with Institute Day for the Decatur City Schools.  This lunch is for all new teachers in the Decatur City School System.  Each school is represented by their Principle who gives a “Roll Call” of the new teachers in their respective school.  This annual event is a way for the business community to welcome all new teachers to the Decatur community.