Warren County’s new Impact Center opens doors to community ahead of first day

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WNKY) – Students and community members got their first look Tuesday at Warren County Public Schools’ new Impact Center for Leadership and Innovation, just one day before the school welcomes its first students.

The community open house gave visitors an opportunity to tour the facility and see the specialized spaces students will use as they explore potential careers.

For students like ninth grader Bryce, the aviation pathway is one of the biggest draws.

“It’s just very inspiring to if you want to do like aviation is one of a pathway that I am in,” Bryce said. “And I could get my pilot’s license out of high school.”

Other students say the facility itself is unlike anything they have experienced in a traditional school.

“I thought it was a college when I first walked in,” said Silas, a rising 10th grader who plans to study aerospace engineering.

Silas said he is looking forward to using the center’s labs to build and design aircraft and rockets.

The Impact Center offers 18 pathways across areas including aviation, biomedical sciences, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, graphic design and entrepreneurship.

Emmie Coffee, a rising sophomore from South Warren High School, plans to study management and entrepreneurship. She said the center gives students an opportunity to explore potential career interests before making decisions about college and their future.

“I think it is a great way to get to explore your interests and get to see different pathways,” Coffee said.

The center’s leadership says the school was developed with the changing workforce in mind, particularly the growing role of artificial intelligence.

“Our goal was to do everything we could to position our students to be in a position to be qualified for these ever changing roles and responsibilities and opportunities, occupations,” a school leader said.

The official said the center’s vision began in 2020 and the facility represents about five years of planning and development.

“We want our students to be in a position to have the skill sets to adapt to those ever changing environments, but then also be the ones that can step right in and find some tremendous opportunities,” the school leader said.

About 800 students will attend the Impact Center full time to begin the school year, while several hundred additional students will have partial access to specialized programming.

The school will add full-time students in higher grades in subsequent years.

Students will also remain connected to their home schools for extracurricular activities, including athletics, band and choir.

For students attending the open house, the first day of school can’t come soon enough.

“I know everyone I’ve talked to is like, I’m so excited for the first day of school, and I feel like you don’t see that a lot anymore,” Coffee said.

Classes begin Wednesday.