New Hope High School is due to receive a technology upgrade thanks to a Department of Education grant.

And the funds mean the school’s students get an added advantage if they choose to pursue technical careers.

Two engineering classes will replace the existing technology applications class at NHHS, Lowndes County School District Vocational Director Percy Lee told the LCSD school board Friday; $139,000 in state funds have been received to establish the new classes.

The classes — fundamentals of drafting and principals of computer-aided design — will introduce students to engineering principles and techniques being taught at colleges and universities and utilized by manufacturers like Severcorr and American Eurocopter.

New Hope’s technology applications class encompasses robotics and computer-aided design, computer manufacturing, computer repair, electronics and other applications, according to Danny Browning, who’s taught the class at NHHS since 1999.

The new classes will modify the current curriculum to lean more toward business and industry applications.

“I won’t say (the course) will have (students) trained, but it will give them insight into how different things are used in business and industry. Everything we do in this class is compatible to what’s going on in business,” said Browning.

Exposure to various technological applications has sparked students to pursue technical careers in the past and likely continue, he said.

“Certain kids like certain parts and it might click and they go on to be that. It’s just according to what clicks in that child’s head. If they see something, it might make them pursue a career in that area,” says Browning.

Cindy Johnson, technology preparation coordinator for East Mississippi Community College, said a testing component is offered to local high schools with career and technology programs which, if passed, can count for up to six credit hours at EMCC.

“Our instructors work with teachers at the secondary level to compare curriculums and keep (students) from repeating the same coursework,” said Johnson.

Locally, the skills learned in Browning’s class could be applied at manufacturers like American Eurocopter, Router Works and the Columbus Brick Company.

Eurocopter utilizes computer-aided design to guides its high-speed water cutters when cutting steel components for helicopters. Router Works uses a similar process to cut cabinets and the brick yard utilizes robotics to transport heavy loads.

With the new equipment, Browning’s class will receive printers capable of creating three-dimensional images of designs from house plans to industrial parts.

Opportunities also are available beyond Lowndes County. David Oglesby, a former student of Browning’s physics course, is a research assistant at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at Mississippi State, working on hybrid car research. Oglesby’s brother, Daniel, is a research scientist for NASCAR in North Carolina.

The LCSD was able to get the new classes fully funded despite not receiving the full $150,000 available for the grant because New Hope installed the necessary computers last year.

The district used existing Perkins Career and Technical Education funds, which are designated for technology purchases, to round out the estimated $170,000 cost to purchase equipment and implement the class.

“We got more points because we didn’t ask for the full amount,” Lee told the board. “It’s not going to cost the board a dime of money.”

The grant money will be used to purchase an electrical control module, hydraulic and pneumatic mechanical power systems, manufacturing and automation equipment, lathe technology and robotics and materials handling equipment. The classes will be offered to juniors and seniors next year and taught in two-hour blocks.

LCSD ranked second among six districts statewide to receive the engineering grant.

The other districts receiving the grant include Hancock County, Choctaw County, West Point, Monroe County and Tate County.