BATH — Sparks are literally flying at the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center. It didn’t take long for the center’s new welding program to reach capacity.
“Sometimes when you have a brand-new class, you get five or six kids enrolled, but we’re full, morning and afternoon,” said the program’s instructor, Mark Merry. “Welding is huge. (Employers) are dying for welders. You can go anywhere in the world and get a job welding, and I think the kids know that.”
The welding and fabrication program is one of three new programs at the technical center, which absorbed three former Morse High School teachers and some underutilized instruction space in an effort to further contemporize its offerings for today’s students. Both BRCTC and Morse are schools within Regional School Unit 1.
All 22 slots in the welding program are filled, an enrollment number center director Joel Austin believes “says something about the interest and relevance” of the center’s new offerings.
“My goal is to take a circle 50 miles around the city of Bath and think about what jobs are going to be there,” said RSU 1 Superintendent William Shuttleworth on Tuesday. “You’re always going to need your car fixed, you’re going to need nursing services, you’re always going to need cooks. You’re always going to need electricians and you’re going to need welding. We were lucky to have people at the high school who had the skill sets necessary to take on these programs.”
The jobs listed by Shuttleworth are reflected in the programs offered at the technical center.
Joining welding as a newcomer to the BRCTC catalog are programs in composites manufacturing and commercial arts — like graphic design and advertising. Both are offered in the morning sessions this year, and will be expanded to two sessions in the second year next fall.
“The sooner you can get your foot into that (professional) door, the better you’re setting yourself up for the rest of your life,” said John Maskarinetz, who taught science at Morse and has moved down the hallway to lead the composites program. “Kids can leave here and go into the industry, they can go into college, they can start their own businesses. This can be at least a stepping stone for all of those things.”
On Friday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., parents and community members are invited to 800 High St. to acquaint themselves with the center. In some of the established programs, such as carpentry, students will take part in skills competitions to not only demonstrate what they’re learning, but also to qualify for a statewide SkillsUSA event later this year in Bangor. An associated career and college fair will also be held with area employers and post secondary schools.
Austin said the Friday event is held to expose area residents — as well as those from outlying districts also served by the center — to the valuable and often rigorous work being done by students there. He said the vocational schools still must overcome beliefs that they’re simply in place to keep students who can’t handle traditional academics.
“We want people to know what’s going on here,” Austin said. “We’re battling that. We’re working hard to change the perception. This (school) is a difference maker for kids. When I was a principal in past jobs, one of my biggest challenges was dealing with bored kids. We don’t have many bored kids here.”
But that doesn’t mean the programs are easy. The state-of-the-art software used by commercial arts instructor Julie Kenny, the shipyard-ready welding equipment used by Merry and the complex hardening resins employed by Maskarinetz are not for the simple-minded.
Maskarinetz said he’s got a student heading to Dartmouth College next fall, and another joining the military.
“This appeals to a broad spectrum of kids, from those whose preference is to work with their hands and be challenged by different customer requests, to those who like to design new things and create them,” he said.
news@timesrecord.com
No comments:
Post a Comment