CTE Launches New Skilled Trades Courses

MOBOCES has launched two new CTE programs this fall to help prepare local high school students for in-demand careers in the region.

Welding and Electrical Systems are the newest additions to our course catalog, growing the number of courses offered in the skilled trades. Both programs have the added benefit of being housed at local colleges, allowing students to utilize the facilities there and attend classes closer to their school district.

“These are areas that students have shown interest in and that industry has said they need,” CTE Principal Kayla Roberts said.

 

Electrical Systems

Electrical instruction has been taught largely through the HVAC program on campus for many years. But the new course provides more in-depth instruction of electrical systems and greater exploration of the electrical trades.

Students work under the instruction of Amir Zeric, who continues to teach a senior-level HVAC course in addition to junior-level Electrical Systems.

“Every year we have students who are interested in an electrical career in the HVAC program. Now they can focus more on that piece that of it,” Zeric said.

The class, located at MVCC Rome, currently has only juniors, and it will transition into a full two-year program when this year’s students become seniors. Electrical joins Advanced Culinary Experience, Culinary Arts and PROPEL at MVCC, which also houses one of our adult education centers.

Caleb, a junior from Rome, is excited about the class – the curriculum, the location, and the work-based learning experiences that are coming.

“There’s more engineering involved in this class than I expected, which I love, and I really like being here at MVCC,” he said. “I’m excited for our internships next year. That will really set me up for after high school.”

 

Welding

Similarly, welding has for many years been part of the curriculum of several CTE classes, including Heavy Equipment Operation, Outdoor Power Equipment and Auto Collision Repair. But the new stand-alone program allows students to take a deeper dive into welding-focused skills and career pathways.

“I want to go to college to be a diesel mechanic, so this is a good base for that work,” Madison senior Garrett said.

Instructor Cody Schulz teaches a junior year section of the course on the main Verona campus and a senior year section at SUNY Morrisville, using the college’s welding lab and tools twice a week.

Welding joins a two-year Carpentry class that launched at SUNY Morrisville last year, an expansion of the two-year Carpentry program still offered on the main campus. In addition, the Livestock Management and Agriculture class now takes seniors to SUNY Morrisville several times a week for lab work in the college’s dairy barn.

The prospect of honing his welding skills and attending classes so close to his Stockbridge Valley home were appealing to Darren, a senior who moved from the Livestock program into Welding.

“I do welding outside of school and I like it, so I was glad to see welding become its own class,” he said. “I still got to work around machines last year, but this is more of what I want to do.”