Leaders from around the community joined the family of the late Commodore Conyers to officially dedicate Dougherty County's College & Career Academy in his honor. 

A lifelong educator, Conyers was a former teacher, principal and director of Vocational Education for the Dougherty County School System. Now, Conyers name sits atop the building designed to create new career pathways for students by providing them with the skills and opportunities necessary to build the local workforce.

When school starts Aug. 2, nearly 800 students from Dougherty, Baker, Calhoun and Terrell Counties are expected to be attending half-day sessions at the Academy, which uses a hybrid model for education that pairs traditional high-school courses with skills-based classes connected to 14 high-demand career pathways. Those pathways use a curriculum that has been developed in part by local industry so that students who graduate from the academy can seamlessly transition into the local workforce or get a jump start on college.