Three New CTE Programs Wrap Up First Year

Our Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs aim to empower all students through innovative partnerships that build technical, academic, and professional leadership skills for college and career success. This year, the CTE team launched three new programs in our schools: Creative Expression and Design at Nottingham, Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning Refrigeration Clean Energy (HVACR) at Corcoran, and Computer Chip Technology and Production at Corcoran.
 
Read on to learn more about how these programs are inspiring students through hands-on learning while giving them a step up for their future!
 

HVAC Program Heats Up Student Interest

“Make sure the scribe is set to 3.5 inches,” Corcoran HVAC Instructor David Hill said, watching as a student lines the instrument up along a ruler. “We’re going to practice cutting these circle holes in the duct work.”
 
Mr. Hill holds an associate degree in HVAC and worked for 40 years within the industry. He has served as a trainer for adult education at the New York State Weatherization Directors Association, as well as a SKILLS USA judge – where he evaluated students’ performance in HVAC events. This year, he made the transition into education, where he now leads students in the school’s brand-new HVAC program.
 
Through the course, students have gained hands-on experience with sheet metal tools and ductwork; they have learned how to identify tools, use hand saws, circular and reciprocating saws, and more. They worked at identifying parts of an actual furnace and understanding their functions within the equipment. Thanks to a generous donation of a piece of equipment, the students were able to completely dismantle an older furnace, allowing them to engage with various parts and pieces for identification.
 
“I’ve worked with my dad on this stuff,” freshman Eliezer Baez explained. “He works in HVAC. I’ve helped him connect wires, repair furnaces, things like that. Through the HVAC program at school, I’ve learned how to move pipes and measure properly. My dad is impressed that I’ve learned these things already in high school. It’s helping me get ahead because I’ll graduate high school already having a certification!”
 
The EPA Section 608 Technician Certification is a requirement for HVAC technicians who handle refrigerants – a written exam that students enrolled in Corcoran’s HVAC program will have access to in their senior year. Junior Jah’Rhea Swann is especially grateful for the step up.
 
“My dad started his own heating and cooling business,” she shared. “I’ll be helping him this summer, learning as I go and gaining that experience. I’m a hands-on person. When my dad brought me on some jobs, I was like: this is cool! When they started the HVAC program at school, I knew I had to do it. This is something I enjoy, and the money in it is good. I came in knowing some stuff already, but this program has helped me learn more about all the components inside units and what each of them does. My dad is really happy I’m getting this experience in high school. My hope is that I can open my own business in a few years if I want to because I’ll have all the experience I need.”
 

Creative Expression & Design Program Empowers Students to Design a Better Future

The classroom is filled with tools: desktop computers, tablets that can be drawn on, sewing machines, mannequins, and iPads.
 
In Nottingham’s new Creative Expression and Design program, this year, students were introduced to graphic design, architecture, environmental design, interior design, fashion design, industrial design, and more. As freshman, they had an exploratory year, touching on everything. As students progress through the next three years of the program, they’ll be able to hone in on their area of interest.
 
“I want to inspire them to help them determine their focus,” Instructor Lynette Spencer explained. “We started with the basics: learning the elements and principles of art. They got a crash course! My goal throughout the course is to give them the space to design things that are both useful and interesting to them.”
 
Freshman Lorena Pous said the first year of the program has already done that. With an interest in architecture and design, Lorena said her favorite project was one asking students to explore their school, taking photos of various spaces. They were tasked with selecting one space in the building, measuring it, and then creating a foam-board model of that space, to scale.
 
“Making the model was my favorite project this year,” she explained. “It was hard to get the stairs to scale! I like that I get to practice these things now, because I know they’ll get easier the more that I do them. This class has taught me not to stress when things go wrong!”
 
Students also had the opportunity to dabble in fashion design – designing seasonal outfits with a variety of textures and color schemes; they decorated skateboards for an art fundraiser, made fabric birds to contribute to a crowd-sourcing effort led by a Syracuse University professor, created potential logos for the Nottingham Innovation and Design Academy, and more.
 
“I’ve been an artist my whole life,” freshman George Park shared. “This class helps me advance my skills. It’s nice to have access to programs like the Adobe Creative Suite, because those are very expensive programs but are necessary to work in the graphic design field. I hope to become a graphic designer one day, so this is definitely helping me get ahead!”
 
Ms. Spencer, a true artist herself, has an impressive background – having worked in bookmaking and printmaking, graphics and communication design, glass blowing and fusing, wood working… even making paper, sewing it together, and adding a leather binding!
 
“I’ve done a handful of things that pair nicely to what we’re doing here,” she explained. “A lot of these students are self-starters already. They’re immersed in these environments and they’re growing up with many of these skills. This program will help give them the focus to create a body of work that says: this is me. It’s going to help them find their voice – who they are and what their style will be. We’re going to give them the access to the skills and equipment they’ll need to create a body of work that shows who they are, and I’m excited to see them grow over the coming years!”
 

From Classroom to Cleanroom: Computer Chip Program Opens Doors to High-Tech Careers

Freshmen at Corcoran unbox the Motor Control Learning System and the Pneumatics Learning System. In partnership with industry partners Micron and Wolfspeed, the students are just completing their first year in the school’s brand-new Computer Chip program. This CTE program will prepare students to enter the field of high technology fabrication, such as semiconductor manufacturing.
 
Mario Cruz became interested in the Computer Chip program through his father, who works in the electrical field. He sees the program as a way to give him a head start for a future career with Micron.
 
“The program has helped me learn what it will be like working for Micron,” he shared. “They offer well-paying jobs and it seems like a nice community to be a part of. I like the things we do in this field – math, soldering, putting chips together… it gives me a really good base education for my future!”
 
That’s the goal behind this program: to help students explore career possibilities through research, field visits, and professional mentoring.
 
Classmate Tyrell Lewis attended a Micron Chip Camp the summer before his 8^th grade year – noting that it was that experience that led him to apply to the Computer Chip program.
 
“I really like the STEM focus and all the technicalities involved in this program,” Tyrell explained. “My favorite project this year was soldering microchips and making a game out of them!”
 
Through the program, students will have the opportunity to obtain safety certification allowing them to work in an industrial setting, enabling them to understand and troubleshoot processes and machines. They will be exposed to technical reading and writing, and apply background information physics, chemistry, and math to understand the fabrication process.
 
Joeliel Torres said the program has brought learning to life in a new way.
 
“These things come easily to me,” he said. “We use binary equations and things like that to see how computers talk… that’s so interesting to me! That kind of math was hard for me to learn at first, but it’s really cool getting to learn about computers, microchips, and how to build them.”
 
As students continue through the program, they will be trained on state-of-the-art industry standard equipment – and will even have the chance to work in a simulated clean room! We’re excited to see these pathways develop in the coming years.