Career and Technology Center promotional show visits Greensburg Salem School Board

Emily Miller disassembled a car engine without getting her hands dirty while Brian Conway tried his skills at welding without creating sparks.

The two Greensburg Salem School Board members were among district officials this weekwho sampled virtual skill simulations that are part of the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center Roadshow.

Jason Lucia, the center’s administrative director, and key members of his staff also brought a paint booth simulator to Greensburg Salem, one of 10 area school districts that send students to the New Stanton facility.

Introduced this year, the traveling promotional program has visited 20 schools within the center’s service area, with more stops planned in May, according to Alexander Novickoff, assistant director of workforce education.

The center is planning a roadshow schedule that will “expand to more schools next year and, hopefully, summer events like fairs, festivals,” he said.

A mobile laser engraver and simulators for operating a forklift and a skid loader are other elements of the roadshow.

The effort to reach out to more potential students and their families comes at a time when the Central Westmoreland CTC is updating and expanding facilities and programs.

“Our students don’t just graduate and it’s over,” said Lucia. “We are the next step in life for them. We are preparing them for the future.”

“We don’t want our students to see the CTC as a separate entity,” said Greensburg Salem Superintendent Ken Bissell. “We want them to see it as one of our buildings.”

With help from instructors, CTC students are gaining experience this spring semester as they construct a block building that is 16 feet tall. “It will house instructional platforms for our construction trades students,” said Novickoff.

Other physical improvements at the center include new entrance security features, installation of an auto collision paint booth, renovation of the health occupations lab and expansions of a multimedia lab and studio and space devoted to the sports medicine program.

The largest career and technology center in Western Pennsylvania, the Central Westmoreland facility has about 1,100 students — 99 of them from Greensburg Salem.

Of its 20 programs of study, one of the newest has the umbrella title Service Occupations. It includes training in building maintenance, landscaping, retail merchandising, hospitality management, food prep services, health care support and workplace safety.

In other program changes, graphic design and commercial art have been consolidated as multimedia design, plumbing has been combined with HVAC and welding is joined with metal fabrication.

Darcy Szymkiewicz, assistant director of career and technical education, said Central Westmoreland is working to dispel the traditional notion that CTC programs are for students who don’t intend to pursue post-secondary education.

“Students have a choice,” she said. “You can still do both.”

“We have post-secondary agreements with all our programs,” Novickoff said. Students who complete health occupations studies at Central Westmoreland can earn credits toward a related associate degree at such institutions as the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology, Harcum College and Pennsylvania Institute of Technology.

The CTC also offers students opportunities to earn industry-recognized certifications in various fields and to gain on-the-job experience working for area employers.

The school board were introduced to two Greensburg Salem seniors who attend the CTC. Lorelei Damico is studying robotics; Logan Fox, a machine trades student, spends three days a week working at Hammil Manufacturing in Trafford, as part of a co-op program.

Local employers’ job requirements can inform the instruction provided to students at the CTC, according to Lucia.

“We will train the kids to stay here in Westmoreland County,” he said. “We want them to be taxpayers.”

Visit cwctc.org for more information about the Central Westmoreland center.

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