Every February, Orange-Ulster BOCES holds Career and Technical Education Media Day in conjunction with National Career and Technical Education Month. On Feb. 7, members of the local press were invited to join students, staff, and administrators in taking a tour of the school and learning more about the programs offered to high school juniors and seniors.
The Career and Technical Education Center offers over 39 academies designed to provide training for students and give them the advantage of mastering marketable technical skills while also fulfilling academic requirements to graduate from high school. CTE students are able to earn college credits and most move on to post-secondary education after graduation.
Right from the start, guests begin to get a taste of what the students are learning. Upon entering the BOCES parking lot, law enforcement students help guide motorists to the appropriate parking area. Once inside the building, the first couple of hallways are lined with student presentations. Tri-boards explain a little about the students’ academy and may even provide some tools of the trade.
Inside the small conference room, tables were set and breakfast served by the culinary students. The centerpieces were created by students in the engineering design and architecture class. The acrylic was cut and engraved using a laser. The design was adapted from the work done by the digital design and advertising class. The wood bases were cut using a CNC router. Light strips were added underneath.
Students not only learn to work with another academy, but they also learn to collaborate with other students they don’t know. This allows them to gain experience about what it’s like in the business and workfield. Students will one day work with outside clients who may submit a product that needs to be designed, manipulated, and adapted before it’s sent somewhere else.
On Sept. 29, students participated in a multi-agency Orange County jail mock disaster drill. Nine law enforcement students had to work a scene where there was a fire in a boiler room. Four esthetic students used their talents to portray the victims. They created burns and even manipulated their bodies to replicate serious injuries like a missing arm or a bone sticking out of the skin.
Aside from showing off some of the work being done in the classroom, students were on hand to briefly talk about their academy.
Joseph Belladone, an electrical student from James O’Neill High School, said he’s in the second year of a two-year program. The first year he learned about housing and the second year about wiring commercial buildings. Not only is he learning electrical construction, but how to use power tools. He’s affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, as well as a union out of Central Valley. To further prepare him for future employment, his teacher often conducts mock interviews.
Edsel Asencio, a Cornwall High School senior, is also in the second year of his culinary program.
“For me, it was an easy choice,” he said. “I grew up in a Spanish household and there was always a lot of cooking going on. Watching a lot of cooking shows growing up didn’t help either.”
In the first year of the program, Asencio received an introduction to cooking, learning basic skills, measurements, and knife skills. He got a feel for what it’s like to work in a kitchen productively. Little by little the course introduced more cooking and articles to read featuring different recipes. He’s even learned how to do front and back restaurant work – both as a manager and a server.
Asencio plans to attend college and hopes to own his own restaurant.
