Dixie State University establishes learning center at Water Canyon High School in Hildale

Left to right: Water Canyon High School principal Steve Showalter, Dixie State University director of concurrent enrollment Kevin Simmons and director of extension education centers at Dixie State Chris Gifford celebrate a grant to establish a Dixie State education center at Water Canyon High in Hildale, Utah. Date not specified. | Photo courtesy of Nancy Hauck, St. George News.

ST. GEORGE — Dixie State University recently received a $100,000 Perkins grant to establish a learning center at Water Canyon High School in Hildale. 

Water Canyon High School in Hildale, Utah, July 3, 2019 | Photo by Ryann Richardson, St. George News

The learning center will be located at the high school and offer college-level certification courses to high school students and community members. Construction of the learning space is expected to be completed by the end of the summer and classes will begin this fall. 

“What I think the great success is we’re utilizing facilities and resources from the taxpayer and dual-purposing so we’re not really wasting anything,” Nancy Hauck, Dixie State associate provost of community and global engagement, told St. George News. “This is 10 times what we can offer to (the high school’s) students. We’ll also be able to offer to adults in Hildale courses through the center.”

The education center will offer general education courses and completion certificates in addition to seven technical education certificates in nursing, design, computing fundamentals, art photography and digital imaging, information technology and entrepreneurship. All of the courses are designed to lead to further education or career paths, Hauck said. 

The high school currently offers college-level art, business and math classes to its students. The new education center will more than double the opportunities and allow community members to enroll in classes without having to drive an hour to Dixie State’s campus, Principal Steve Showalter told St. George News. 

Stock image | Photo by
seb_ra/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

“With the different concurrent enrollment classes we can offer, they are things we don’t have teachers currently who can teach,” Showalter said. “If we’ve got a couple students interested in a nursing pathway or a couple interested in graphic design or web development … (this) allows them to streamline a class from Dixie State and follow their career choice.”

High school students will be able to take classes in the new center during the school day, and community members can take classes there in the evenings. The education center will be built with an outdoor access door for community members. High school students will be able to enroll in the evening classes if they want to, but Showalter said he doesn’t envision students and community members taking classes together during the day.

“We’re excited for the increased opportunities for our students and hoping to be able to open it up to the community at large,” Showalter said. “These are opportunities that otherwise would take them considerable drive time, and we hope that we can get everything done before school starts.”

Registration for courses in Hildale will open this spring. For more information, visit Dixie State’s concurrent enrollment webpage. Dixie State will also offer a design thinking course beginning on March 1 for students in Hurricane, Kanab and Hildale. To learn more and register for the course, visit Dixie State’s registration page

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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