Portage Lakes Career Center in Ohio, is celebrating 35 years of vocational education. The school is a part of the University System of Ohio. One of the institution's current initiatives is to get ahead in training their students in the gas and oil industries. Administrators believe that these fields are possible and reliable job markets for students upon graduation.
"We need to be proactive," said Superintendent Ben Moore to CantonRep.com. "The jobs are coming. We aren't going to sit on this gas in this economy."
The school will be integrating oil and gas industry skills within their program models. Welding is the most popular of the skilled labor sectors that students seem to be most interested in. The course has a long waiting list, due to the amount of students who are interested in the program.
One challenge the school has faced is getting parents to support their children's hopes of attending the school. Krista Haubert, PLCC community relations coordinator said to CantonRep.com, "We battle the old stigma of what a vocational school is. Kids get excited about their tour here, then mom says, 'No, you're going to college,'".
Superintendent Moore hopes that the school can be seen as a highly career-focused place opposed to a vocational school. In an attempt to give the school a new facelift, the institution recently brought in modern industrial equipment. Additionally, all programs within the school provide the students with college credit.
Some of the school's most recent programs include pre-nursing, landscape design, visual design, web design, engineering, and imaging.
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