FCTA Simulator ‘drives’ home safety

Fulton County Transit Authority (FCTA) recently supplied access to their Driver Safety Simulator to students at the Four Rivers Career Academy in Hickman.

According to Dianne Owen, Career Readiness Coordinator of the Four Rivers Career Academy, the center applied for a Juvenile Justice Fiscal Incentive Program (JJIP) Grant through the First District Court with Judge Hunter B. Whitesell’s assistance to provide experiences for middle school students that encourage them to pursue career pathways.

The Simulator experience included Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Hickman Police Department, the Fulton County Detention Center, and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. Simulator trainers are Keith St. John and Tommy Lawson.

Students from Fulton County, Fulton Independent, Hickman County, and local government agencies were able to test the simulator while it was stationed in Hickman.

Four Rivers Career Academy also received a New Skills for Youth Grant, which is a Kentucky state grant sponsored through J.P. Chase Morgan designed to transform area technical centers into all day career academies.

The Fulton County ATC has been rebranded as the Four Rivers Career Academy and now not only offers career pathways in health sciences, information technology, business administration, welding, and automotive, but also offers dual credit in these classes as well as in academic courses.

The grant is a one year planning grant designed to work with an advisory committee to align the curriculum with post-secondary and business/industry partners in order for students to seamlessly move from the academy to college or the world of work.

The grant provides funding for teachers to explore new curriculum, visit other academies, create a new website, rename the center, and partner with other entities to provide additional services including an EMT training program scheduled to begin in the fall and interactive dual credit courses using Google Classroom.

Part of the grant is allowing teachers, students, and community partners to explore how simulators work through the Fulton County Transit Authority’s Driving Simulator, explaining the information to technology students and allows students in the automotive program to have real world applications to what they are learning.

According to a brochure from FCTA, “Immersive training session offer a mixture of lessons and simulation driving to help drivers with the expected and unexpected on the roadway.”

The training sessions are conducted in a small group environment in an effort to allow each person an opportunity to not only receive a proper amount of hands-on experience with the simulator, but also allows one-on-one time with the trainer.

The simulators offer field-of-view displays to give drivers a sense of training in the environment where they work.

The Driver Safety Simulator became a part of FCTA through a partnership with the Paducah Area Transit System and the Office of Transportation and Delivery.

The cost is $175 per person with a minimum of 15 trainees guaranteed, to arrange for Simulator training.