Smart Horizons Career Online Education is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with former NFL star Jason Taylor to launch theJason Taylor High School. Established in 2009, SHCOE is the world’s first AdvancED/SACS accredited online school district. SCHOE offers an instructional program that enables students returning to the education process to earn an 18-credit high school diploma while also completing coursework for a credentialed career certificate. Career certificates available through the SHCOE program include Childcare, Transportation Services, Office Management, Homeland Security, Protection Services, and General Career Preparation.
Taylor played the majority of his career with Florida’s Miami Dolphins. He retired in 2011 following a 15-year career in the NFL as a defensive end and outside linebacker, He was six-time Pro Bowl Selection, named Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, and received the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2007.
Taylor’s generous, philanthropic spirit inspired him and his wife, Katina, to establish the Jason Taylor Foundation (www.jasontaylorfoundation.com) in 2004. The mission of this non-profit organization is to support and create programs that facilitate the personal growth and empowerment of South Florida’s children. With a focus on improved health care, education and quality of life, the Jason Taylor Foundation has contributed more than $2,500,000 in programs and services to more than 40 different organizations dedicated to helping children since opening its doors.
Taylor feels that this new partnership with SHCOE will enable him to better serve the demographic of high school dropouts.
“I am looking forward to partnering with Smart Horizons Career Online Education on the career high school concept,” explained Taylor. “It will be extremely empowering for someone who was unable to finish high school to be able to earn a diploma and receive a credentialed career certificate. Through our work with the Jason Taylor Foundation, we have seen many students drop out of school and we realize that there are countless adults who went down this path for one reason or another, but who still want to secure their high school diploma. Now they can!”
“One would think that Jason Taylor’s long-term reputation would be based on his stellar career in the NFL and his future election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” said Dr. Richard Goldman, Chairman of the Board for SHCOE. “However, the best Jason Taylor story is the dedication he has shown through his foundation to improve the lives of children and families. That is his true legacy—not the number of sacks he’s had, but that he’s a caring human being who wants to better society.”