CARTHAGE, Mo. — For the past couple of weeks, weather has handicapped Wehr Construction’s efforts to build the new technical center for the Carthage School District.
“They assure us they are going to bring it off,” said Eddie Stephens, director of the tech center since January 2000.
The Springfield contractor, despite a slow start, has promised a May 15 completion date.
“It’s coming along,” Stephens said. “We hold almost weekly meetings.”
Last year, 189 seniors were enrolled in some kind of tech center course; of that number, 91 percent graduated. While most students choose medical, engineering and engineering tech studies, several choose agriculture courses, Stephens said. The agriculture department has four teachers who cover agriculture business, agriculture mechanics, animal science and horticulture. Other courses available include computer information systems, precision machining, digital electronics and practical nursing, which started just this year.
Once the move to the new center is made, Stephens said, the current building will be remodeled by the construction trades class. Several programs will continue to be taught there, including auto tech and auto welding courses, and all medical courses including emergency medical services training.
“We plan on bringing GED classes here, and the virtual learning program (now housed in the old Tigers Den) will be coming here also,” Stephens said. “All the classes at the old tech center will be offered to adults. We’ll have a whole array of commercial education and job advancement courses.”
Some courses at the new tech center also will be open to adults.
Ten tech programs will be taught at the new high school building using shared staff members. Pro-Start is a restaurant management program. Also offered will be accounting, business tech, computer aided drafting, engineering, internal business and Bio-Med, a new program that is the only one available in Southwest Missouri.
Stephens, who taught agriculture for more than 17 years before being appointed director of the center, is eagerly anticipating a new state program. Project Case is named after Larry Case, a national FFA adviser and Missouri native.
“It’s a lab-based bio-tech course with emphasis on animal and plant science,” Stephens said. “There are only six states involved now.” Carthage and Mankato, Minn., will be training sites for the program, which eventually will expand to other states.
“We’re excited about it because it is a really strong program that will bring about the development and marketing of new products,” he said. “You have to be on the edge.”
The Carthage Technical Center also is a regional site for national certification testing. With other schools closing down this service, the number of people requesting certification testing has grown from about two per week to 15 or 20. As a result of the economic downturn, Stephens said, more people are studying for certifications that allow them to either get jobs or maintain their jobs by becoming proficient in Microsoft applications such as Excel and Excel Excess.
“We’re one of the few testing sites left in Southwest Missouri,” he said, noting that sites in Springfield and Joplin have closed. “We don’t get a lot of money for it, but we view it as a community service.”
The tech center does a follow-up on all graduating students.
“Last year, 88 percent of our students either found jobs related to their technical training or went on to a community or four-year college, and some of them did both,” Stephens said.
With a May 15 completion date, Stephens will have the entire summer to see that all the students’ learning tools and equipment are moved safely. That’s good, because a lot of it, such as the precision machining equipment provided by Leggett & Platt Inc., must be moved carefully so that precise calibrations are not disturbed. Stephens said he will employ a professional company that can bolt the equipment down and stabilize it.
Stephens said the cost of the new $4.2 million tech center is being paid by an enhancement grant, a state construction grant that includes a 50 percent match from the Steadley Foundation, and federal stimulus money.
“Actually, there is no cost to our patrons,” he said.
