By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph School District recently completed an expansion of the Hillyard Technical Center that added space for new programs and expansion of others.
Superintendent Gabe Edgar says the expansion was designed to help address employment needs in the community, from manufacturing to healthcare.
Edgar says the school district worked with a special advisory board to figure out where those needs were prior to the expansion
"What kind of welding employees they needed, what kind of precision manufacturing employees they needed, what kind of mechanics they needed, all of that stuff has kind of come to fruition," Edgar tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr.
Edgar says these partnerships will not only benefit the school district, but also the area employers and the community as a whole.
One program that the facility has helped expand is the diesel tech program. School Board Vice President Mike Moore says when that program began, there wasn't even room for a shop for students to work.
Since the expansion however, several partnerships have helped enhance the capabilities of the program. One in particular Moore says, was with Daimler Truck North America to provide a diesel truck for students to work on
"So, we're talking a $100,000 plus vehicle that has got the latest control systems, the latest hydraulics, braking, everything that the students need that's very relevant for the trucks that are being made today," Moore explains.
Moore says that just recently they had an opportunity to deliver the truck to Hillyard
"They filled the driveway, they clapped for the truck as it came in, they immediately crawled underneath it and started asking questions and looking at it," Moore says. "And so, yeah I think there's strong evidence that kids are responding to this."
The partnership with Daimler is one of many to provide state of the art equipment to the facility, so students can work on the equipment that they would work on once they are out of school.
Since the expansion, Edgar says students in the welding programs have nearly doubled. But what the best part of the expansion is, Edgar says, is that the space is a simulated facility
"So, all these specialized training centers are right next to each other, so these kids can actually learn a little bit of everything," Edgar explains. "So, if somebody didn't like welding and they wanted to try precision machines, they can move right over there and try precision machines, so it's more of a partnership."
Edgar says a space like this will be good for students as they explore interests at Hillyard which will help expand future workforce endeavors in the community.