More high schoolers pursue tech-ed programs

As the economy dives, high school students across Virginia are increasingly turning to career and technical-education programs so they can go directly into the work force after graduation.

Central Virginia technical centers are increasing the number and types of classes they offer, but they are still finding it difficult to keep up with the demand.

In the 2007-08 school year, 35,024 students throughout Virginia graduated with a concentration in a career and tech-ed program, an increase of nearly 3,000 students from the year before and more than 8,000 from 2003-04.

"We're turning more away each year; we just don't have the space," said Mac Beaton, director of career and technical education in Henrico County. "A lot of the jobs are truly recession-proof in today's economy."

Linda Bell's son, for example, chose to attend the electrical program at Rowanty Technical Center in Prince George County.

"If your car breaks down, you need a mechanic," she said. "If we're in the hospital, we need a competent nurse to take care of us. These are things we take for granted . . . and need someone to take care of it for us."

The usual courses, such as automotive technology and cosmetology, remain in high demand, but the programs have evolved to include veterinary science, biotechnology, culinary arts, nursing and a Cisco Networking Academy in Chesterfield County.

As Chesterfield Technical Center's principal, J. Michael Rose, puts it: "This is not like the old vocational education of 30 years ago."

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In Henrico, nearly 7,000 students are enrolled in courses for family and consumer science and business and information technology. About 2,800 students take trade and industrial-education courses.

As applications surpass the number of available slots at its technical centers, Henrico hopes to add a third center at the new high school being built on Staples Mill Road. That school will open in 2010. Funding for the technical center isn't available yet.

The Chesterfield Technical Center has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of students attending the school from five years ago.

In all localities in the Richmond region, some career and tech-ed courses are taught at high schools. Some localities, such as the cities of Richmond and Colonial Heights and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico, have their own technical centers.

In the fall, Hanover opened the Center for Trades and Technology, an $8.2 million facility, with an enrollment of 225 students.

Some localities bus students to another district for some career and technical-education classes. West Point and the counties of Charles City, King and Queen King William and New Kent send students to the Richmond Technical Center, which serves 1,307 students in 45 programs.

Others, such as Goochland, Louisa and Powhatan counties, send students to classes at local community colleges.

Smaller localities have turned to neighboring areas to form a regional partnership. Dinwiddie, Prince George and Sussex counties formed Rowanty Technical Center 32 years ago.

"The whole reason localities enter into something like this is because of the high-dollar equipment that we can't afford to fund locally," said R. Francis Moore, superintendent of Prince George schools. "These kinds of programs -- we need mechanics, we need brick masons -- we need these jobs and professions."

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Completing courses at a technical center aids students as they prepare to enter the job market upon graduation, if they don't pursue a college degree immediately.

Chelsea Ward, a senior at James River High School, doesn't plan to go to college in the fall. Instead, she is studying cosmetology at the Chesterfield Technical Center.

In the spring, Ward and her second-year cosmetology classmates will take the state licensing exam. She hopes it provides her another avenue to become a hair stylist at Salon Del Sol in Midlothian.

"For someone like me, or someone who wants to work their way through college, it's a perfect opportunity," Ward said.

Midlothian High School's Collin Wagner, who wants to be a chef and restaurateur in New York City, said he plans to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., after graduating this spring.

"The skills and personality traits I have definitely fit in" to succeed in the industry, he said. He said his ultimate goal is to be a chef at the White House.

Melanie Jones, a student at Clover Hill High School, is the only female student in her auto-body collision repair and refinishing class. She wants to own a body shop to customize vehicles.

"I've just always loved cars," said Jones, whose father is a mechanic.

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Many area businesses work with the technical centers to take on graduates. Gary Duff, assistant director of the Richmond Electrician Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, said students who have gone through a program at a center are better-prepared to enter the job market in their trade.

Twelve to 15 technical-center graduates join the electrician-apprenticeship program each year, Duff said.

"It's an opportunity to work immediately out of high school, and they're acclimated to electrical construction work," he said.

Before becoming a certified electrician, apprentices need a minimum of three years of on-the-job training in addition to 240 related class hours. Depending on how the students score on a placement test, their technical-center classes can count toward their certification.

Cody Garrett graduated from the Rowanty Technical Center in 2005. He then joined the apprenticeship program at the local training arm for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He is set to get his journeyman card by June at the age of 21.

Garrett said the training he received at Rowanty was beneficial, covering some areas of electrical work that aren't discussed until the fourth or fifth year in the apprenticeship program.

It also gave him good background for the instruction he is getting as an apprentice electrician. Plus, his Rowanty education counted toward his apprentice hours, which put him on a faster track to receive his journeyman card.

Automotive dealers in the region also take advantage of technical-center graduates to fill needed jobs within the service department.

Technical education provides "a great foundation. If the teacher does it right, the student comes into the dealership knowing what to do," said J.D. Riggleman, service director at Strosnider Chevrolet in Hopewell.

For many teenagers, career and technical education helps them discover what they are interested in pursuing after high school.

Ward wasn't sure what path to take when she applied for two programs at the Chesterfield Technical Center. She found her comfort zone in cosmetology.

"I really had no idea what I wanted to do," she said. "When I got into this, I fell in love with it," she said.

Contact Jeremy Slayton at (804) 649-6861 or .