Kids at Michigan City High School are learning manufacturing skills. The Compressed Air Academy has been recognized by the state as a certified program.

Officials say it’s the first of its kind in the nation. Students are learning how to operate machinery and other skills to work in local air compressor related businesses. Superintendent Barbara Eason Watkins said the program opens the door to the future for students in the class. The program has 47 students.

Eason-Watkins said they spend two hours a day in the academy. The skills learned puts them in a position to start working right after they graduate and they receive college credit if they go that route.