EDUCATING AN EMERGING WORKFORCE

Vocational schools, colleges teach students how to become valuable employees

written by MEG H. PARTINGTON

Both the knowledge and hands-on experience needed in the skilled trades have shifted, causing regional schools to reconfigure the ways they educate the emerging workforce.

While their areas of expertise are wide-ranging, several area vocational schools and colleges are finding a common need to teach students the basics of what it means to be a valuable employee.

“I’ve seen a real change in the expectation of work,” said Jim Duffey, administrative director of the Franklin County

Career and Technology Center in Chambersburg, Pa. “Students today are not quite as ready for work.”

The students in grades 10 to 12 who attend FCCTC are given lessons on responsibility, such as showing up on time and how to communicate effectively with co-workers and supervisors. More than 1,000 students are expected to participate in the programs at Franklin County CTC this coming school year, Duffey added.

“We tell the kids they are coming to work,” said Duffey, who is in his second stint as director and has been with the school for a total of 14 years. Classes are run like businesses, with the teachers serving as supervisors and the students as employees.

The same is true at James Rumsey Technical Institute, where the student body is composed of 500 high-schoolers and 120 adults.

Problem solving, dependable attendance and relating to others are essential skills, said Donna Van Metre, director/principal at JRTI. She said the whole state of West Virginia is trying to simulate workplace environments in technical education. At JRTI - in Martinsburg, W.Va. - students can apply for leadership positions within their classrooms and shops.

“The students kind of start checking each other,” Van Metre said, by monitoring each others’ attendance, uniforms and behavior, and taking disciplinary action for the good of the group.

A “soft skill” hidden in the curriculum at the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics is showing up and doing what is expected of you Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., said Bernard “Butch” Adams, director of the school’s Hagerstown campus.

PIA also has campuses in Pittsburgh, Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Youngstown, Ohio.

Adams said local PIA students “run the gamut” in terms of age, from 17 and fresh out of high school to those in their 50s and 60s. He said some members of the latter group have been laid off or are seeking a new career challenge.

Noah Shandera of Chambersburg, Pa., pilots a forklift while practicing recently at the Franklin County Career and Technology Training Center in Chambersburg. Shandera is in a forklift/logistics class offered through Stepping Forward Works, a program of the United Way of Franklin County.

Photo by Mike Lewis

Skills constant and changing

Jack Drooger, program manager of Workforce Solutions & Continuing Education at Hagerstown Community College, said the definition of skilled trades has broadened. Two decades ago, it referred to fields like construction; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); and carpentry, but now it includes industrial maintenance and computer-based programs.

The division in which Drooger works at HCC offers courses for those who might not want a degree, but are aiming to upgrade their skills to begin or advance their career; need recertification to maintain a license; have a dream to start their own business; seek to develop a new hobby; or simply want to enrich their life.

“We’ve definitely had to evolve here at the college,” said Drooger, who has been working at HCC for more than 20 years.

That progress includes hands-on training with robots, which involves not only learning how to program them, but troubleshooting when things go awry, Drooger said.

Those studying HVAC still need to know the basics of installation, but that now includes computer-based controllers. The installers need to train those who own the machines at their homes and businesses, he added.

Many tools are now run by computers, Drooger said, and working with those devices is a big part of internships that HCC students undertake.

The training provided at HCC mimics industry needs.

“We try to match not only the skill sets, but the platforms” in technology that are required, said Drooger, who chatted while watching a driver-education course being taught using Zoom.

Adams, who has been the director of the Hagerstown campus of PIA since the summer of 2012, said the skills needed in aviation and related industries are totally different than a decade ago. For instance, PIA teaches students about turbine and reciprocating engines, but now, basic turbine skills are in higher demand. A reciprocating engine converts heat and pressure released during the combustion of fuel mixed with air into mechanical energy, just like in a car, he explained.

A few years ago, students just needed to know how to do repairs on sheet metal and aluminum plane bodies, but now, it’s more about sheet metal and composite repairs, Adams said. And while the skills to troubleshoot wiring are still necessary, planes are more sophisticated now and require more electronics know-how, he added.

“It has really, really changed,” he said of skill requirements. “We are blessed that we have instructors that keep up with the technology.”

One thing that hasn’t changed is the need for students to understand electricity, pneumatics, hydraulics and precision measuring, Adams said.

Duffey said machining skills are still mandatory for those in that field, and students still need to know how to work on a lathe and do milling. But they also have to learn more technology, he said.

In the diesel mechanics program at Franklin County CTC, Duffey said students still learn how to use a wrench and change oil, but they also are taught how to work with electronic diagnostic tools. Culinary arts and cosmetology have added technological components over the years, too, he said.

Keeping up with automation means constantly updating equipment, which Franklin County CTC has been able to do largely because of grants, Duffey said. The school has five academies: construction; health sciences; sales and service; STEM/manufacturing; and transportation.

Instructor Steve Staley demonstrates TIG welding during an evening class at Hagerstown Community College.

Photo by Colleen McGrath

Advice from the experts

To keep a pulse on what businesses need from employees to keep operations running smoothly, area vocational programs rely on input from professionals in the field.

JRTI works with employers in West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Van Metre said advisory groups from varying industries meet with school representatives at least twice a year to keep the Martinsburg educational institution up-to-date on technical and workforce needs. She added that some teachers at James Rumsey still work in industries outside of education – or used to – and bring their expertise into the classrooms and shops there.

“We need to look at what jobs are out there and what skill sets are needed,” said Van Metre, who is marking her eighth year at JRTI.

Similarly, Duffey said Franklin County CTC relies on occupational advisory committees composed of members of the regional business community for guidance on what skill sets and equipment are needed to prepare students for the workforce. The school has 23 career and technical programs, and there’s an advisory committee for each. A school board guides school operations, as does a general advisory committee, which meets quarterly, he added.

The Chambersburg-based vocational school offers cooperative education that enables some seniors to go out and work in their fields of study, Duffey said.

HCC, too, utilizes the expertise of those working in the major industry sectors to get an idea of what technical and basic work skills are needed, Drooger said.

Students in an evening welding class at Hagerstown Community College, from left, Tim Hosfelt, of Frederick, Md., Dennis and Richard Michiel, of Hagerstown, and Robert Roane, of Leitersburg, prep their gear before going to the shop for a TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welding demonstration.

Photo by Colleen McGrath

Curriculums lead to careers

HCC’s Workforce Solutions students in the traditional skills tend to range in age from 18 to 24, Drooger said, while others in areas such as commercial vehicle transportation tend to be older than 24 and considering second careers. Course work is offered in health; business and professional training for career advancement; certification and licensure; industrial technology and construction; and transportation.

Commercial trucking takes eight weeks to complete, while some programs that include apprenticeships might take four years, but also offer great career paths that can be lucrative, Drooger said. HCC’s graduates have a high placement rate in commercial trucking jobs, he said. Some are hired before they are done with training, with starting pay as high as $50,000 a year. There also are plentiful openings in HVAC, electrical fields and diesel mechanics, Drooger said.

There are three types of programs at James Rumsey: 18 programs for high school juniors and seniors in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties in West Virginia; Advanced Career Education (ACE) for adult learners; and adult education for the community, such as interviewing skills; Microsoft certification; and preparing for the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), which replaced the General Educational Development (GED) exam.

The Class B trucking licensure program at James Rumsey can be completed in 2 ½ weeks, while the Class A option - which yields a license that offers Class A and Class B driving options - takes nine weeks, Van Metre said. Certified nursing assistant training takes 11 weeks to complete, while massage therapy takes five months. Other programs such as automotive, electrical, electromechanical, HVAC/R (including refrigeration) and culinary take 10 months to finish, while practical nursing takes 11 months, she added.

Co-ops, clinicals and internships for areas such as automotive, culinary arts, electrical, electromechanical, HVAC/R, surgical technicians and practical nursing are available to JRTI students off-site, while massage therapy experience is offered on-site, Van Metre said.

“There is such an incredible need for skilled labor right now,” she said.

She said 85% of JRTI’s students are eligible for funding to help pay for their education. The school also employs a full-time, work-based learning coordinator who facilitates interviews for all current students and alumni throughout their lifetime. “It’s like a headhunter without the fees,” Van Metre said. There are 54 students at PIA right now, said Adams. He added that the summer semester was from June 1 to Sept. 4, while the one in the fall is from Sept. 14 to Dec. 18.

PIA students learn about physics, electricity, hydraulics, pneumatics, reciprocal and turbine engines, some welding, sheet metal and composite repair. “They’re like an engineering student,” Adams said. Precision measuring also is a core of the program. “The big thing in aviation is attention to detail,” he said. While about 95% of PIA students find employment in aviation, some also utilize the skills they acquired to work in elevator repair, wind turbines, railroads, manufacturing and repairing heavy equipment such as backhoes, excavators and rock crushers, Adams said.

Richard Michiel, of Hagerstown, practices TIG welding during an evening welding class at Hagerstown Community College.

Photo by Colleen McGrath

Pride in one’s work

White-collar jobs used to be more valued by society, but now, Van Metre sees that hands-on skills and trades are viewed as relevant and valuable.

“There is honor and dignity in making a living providing for your family,” said Van Metre, whose school is marking its 50th anniversary this year. She wants students to find a vocation they love, then “really dig into that passion.”

Drooger said it is important not only for employees to make a decent living wage, but to be proud of their work.

“Just don’t find a job; find a career,” Drooger said.

More information:

• Franklin County Career and Technology Center: franklinctc.com

• Hagerstown Community College’s Workforce Solutions and Continuing Education Division: hagerstowncc.edu/coned

• James Rumsey Technical Institute: jamesrumsey.com

• Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics: pia.edu