HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Pearl River Community College’s new Commercial and Residential Construction Technology program at the Forrest County Campus has a familiar face as its instructor.

Rashan Foxworth, who graduated from PRCC in 1998 and 2021, is excited as he welcomes his first class later this month into this 30-hour certificate program that can be completed in nine months.

“Being a graduate of PRCC has presented me with opportunities that I would have never been afforded without an education,” said Foxworth. “I was once an impressionable youth at PRCC looking for direction.

“Now, I am an instructor at this great institution and have the opportunity to help someone else find direction in their life. This is a tremendous way to give back what I was given years ago. It’s priceless.”

The Commercial and Residential Construction Technology program is designed to prepare individuals for employment opportunities in commercial and residential building general maintenance and repairs. Content of the program includes federal, state and local codes, as well as, basic maintenance of heating and cooling systems, electrical, plumbing, welding, and basic carpentry skills and fundamental craftwork.

Classes will run from 4-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, beginning Aug. 16, in the Career-Technical Building.

Foxworth, 47, graduated from East Marion High School and the Carl Lofton Vocational Career Center in Columbia, where he was a student in the carpentry and brick laying class. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army eight years in the construction field as a carpentry and masonry specialist with overseas tours building schools, bridges and clinics for impoverished communities.

He worked more than 14 years in the oil and gas industry as an equipment operator, service supervisor, and project manager, with several hundred hours in safety training.

Foxworth graduated in 1998 from the from the PRCC Electrical Technology program, then later earned three more associate degrees in Biomedical, Electronics and Industrial Electronics Technology in May of this year.

“Rashan is a perfect addition to our Wildcat family,” said Dr. James Collum, PRCC Dean for Career and Technical Education at the Forrest County Campus.

“We are very fortunate to bring someone with his experience and passion to our team.”

Added Foxworth, “I can only say how amazing this opportunity is and how great of an honor it is to become a part of the faculty of the institution I graduated from.”

For information about the Commercial and Residential Construction Technology program, call 601-554-5505, email  rfoxworth@prcc.edu or visit the Forrest County Campus on U.S. 49 South.