This story was written for WRAL TechWire Innovator partner Wilson Community College.

WILSON – Someday, in a few years, high school students who have chosen to study theater or dance or music or the visual arts will share the hallways with students who have selected biotechnology and a pharmaceutical career.

And if all goes according to plan, the students will graduate with an associate degree in either Fine Arts or Biotechnology from Wilson Community College a year or so after getting their high school diploma.

Robert Holsten, Wilson Community College Vice President for Academic Affairs

This close mix of art and biotechnology will be so unusual, said Rob Holsten, WCC vice president for Academic Affairs, that he doesn’t believe it can be found at any other state community college.

The idea for both paths grew from the needs and interests of the community.

First, consider biotechnology. Wilson has four large pharmaceutical manufacturers: Merck, Novartis (formerly Sandoz), Fresenius Kabi, and Purdue.

“Representatives from these companies serve on an advisory committee for the WAAT (Wilson Academy of Applied Technology) Early College, and they indicated a need for a local pipeline of skilled technicians,” Holsten said. “The two-year Biotechnology program will do just that.”

The Biotechnology program will begin in fall 2018 with courses offered on the main WCC campus.

Second, consider the talent in the neighborhood. Right next to the WCC campus is the Sallie B. Howard School for the Arts and Education, a charter school founded 20 years ago to focus on the arts – dance, theater, music, visual arts – for students through the eighth grade.

Dr. JoAnne Woodard, director of the Sallie B. Howard School for the Arts and Education

The school’s board asked director Dr. JoAnne Woodard to approach the community college about the possibility of partnering with them to offer a science program, such as biotechnology, along with a fine arts degree when they expand into a new high school.

“Here’s an awesome opportunity to partner with a charter school,” Holsten said. “We’re right here. It’s a perfect partnership. We have the programs and they have the desire. My task is to make that happen.”

Passion and desire drive Woodard and everyone in Sallie B. Howard.

Energy flows from the colorful walls filled with art and inspirational sayings of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr. The lobby cases hold artwork they collected from class trips to India, Egypt, Mexico, Cuba and Australia. Posts on their Facebook page are often in Spanish, reflecting the diversity of the student body. Performances are usually sold out.

A faculty meeting topic is how to incorporate art into all aspects of the curriculum, including math and science. Next month they will break ground on a new building for their high school, which should open in the fall of 2019.

When that happens, Woodard said, her students can continue to pursue their artistic dreams instead of having to abandon them after the eighth grade because most of the 1,000 students come from families who cannot afford to pay for private lessons. She hopes that the Fine Arts associate degree will be offered soon after the new high school opens. And for some of those artistically inclined students, a pharmaceutical career could be an option.

As a charter school, Sallie B. Howard students would qualify for the alternative Career and College Promise, where a student can have dual enrollment and take college classes on an approved pathway in junior year and continue upon completion. This would work for both the Biotechnology and Fine Arts degrees.

The two fields aren’t as different as it may seem at first glance, said Mickey Adams, WCC biotechnology instructor. The best scientists and artists are creative, disciplined and focused.

“It’s a lot of overlap of mindset,” he said. The students could inspire each other. He admits to pausing in the parking lot to listen to the band music coming from Sallie B. Howard school.

Pratibha Lakhani, a science teacher and instructional coach at Sallie B. Howard School for the Arts and Education

The best teachers have always used all the senses – and the imagination – to make learning unforgettable. For example, Pratibha Lakhami taught her seventh-grade science students Newton’s Laws by using the story of the Three Little Pigs: The greater the mass of the object (house made of straw, sticks or bricks) the greater the amount of force needed (by the wolf).

Auditions will be required to enroll in the new high school, Woodard said. Grades will be important, but passion and ability will count highly in any of the artistic fields. Students interested in biotechnology will need a strong foundation in science.

“We’re excited about our partnership with Sallie B. Howard and the blending of the arts and sciences,” Holsten said. “A unique program for a unique school.”

This story was written for WRAL TechWire Innovator partner Wilson Community College.