The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind is adding an automotive manufacturing program.

The institute is partnering with East AlabamaWorks to offer the program, according to a news release. The program is for K-12 and adult students, ages 16 and older, within Alabama School for the Blind, Alabama School for the Deaf, the Helen Keller School of Alabama and E. H. Gentry Facility.

“We hope to quickly expand to offer fully accessible weekend, evening and summer classes to those who are not currently AIDB K12 or adult learners but who have hearing or vision loss or perhaps a physical, cognitive or hidden disability who desire to become certified in modern manufacturing,” said AIDB Chief Adult and Field Services Officer Jessica L. Edmiston in a statement.

The class will prepare students to enter a job market that includes 40,000 manufacturing jobs in eastern Alabama. The institute is welcoming its first students this spring.

“I am very interested in the Modern Manufacturing Program, which will help me grow as a future employee in the manufacturing or automotive industry,” said Parker Clardy, a student in the program. “I look forward to adding all the certifications MMP offers to my resume to help me find higher-wage employment opportunities.”

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Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser’s public safety reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or on Twitter @gladlyalex.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Institute for Deaf and Blind adding automotive manufacturing course