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"This is quite an enhancement to the school in about every way you can think of," Blackstone Valley Tech Superintendent Anthony Steele said. "It’s always been appealing to open up the school to the entire community, not just the 1,250 students we serve every day."
Through a $1 million state grant that was awarded this past summer, the school has 150 seats for adults who qualify for courses in HVAC, advanced manufacturing, welding, electrical and plumbing. We are pleased to share this piece concerning Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School launching a night school for adults looking to learn a trade.
David
Learning the trades: Blackstone Valley Tech launches night program for adults
Jesse Collings Worcester Telegram & Gazette
- Participants must be Massachusetts residents older than 18.
- Participants making less than $56,000 a year will have their tuition covered.
- Classes will begin in January and end in June.
UPTON – With the demand for tradespeople soaring and a desire for greater access to vocational education, Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School is launching a night school for adults looking to learn a trade.
"This is quite an enhancement to the school in about every way you can think of," Blackstone Valley Tech Superintendent Anthony Steele said. "It’s always been appealing to open up the school to the entire community, not just the 1,250 students we serve every day."
Through a $1 million state grant that was awarded this past summer, the school has 150 seats for adults who qualify for courses in HVAC, advanced manufacturing, welding, electrical and plumbing. The goal is to help adults learn a trade skill that has a high demand and to give unemployed or underemployed adults a chance to assume a more valuable role in the workforce.
In order to be eligible, a participant must be older than 18 and a Massachusetts resident. Participants who make less than $56,000 per year will have their tuition covered. To apply online, visit BVTAdultEd.org or call (508) 519-3790.
"The grant program is really valuable because it also allows us to break down barriers for those who have challenges accessing this kind of education," Mary May, director of workforce and economic development at Blackstone Valley Tech, said. "The grant can help cover anything from transportation costs to funding work boots for the students."
Steele, who started at Blackstone Valley Tech as an English teacher in 1997, said the school did once have a night program, but the costs of operating the school and tools and machinery for extra hours ended up impacting the high school students, and the program ended in the early 2000s.
"Now with the grant funding, the additional costs associated with running the school for extra hours is covered, and then some," Steele said, noting that instructional staff for the programs will be a mix of current Blackstone Valley Tech teachers and other professionals.
Crash courses in in-demand fields to be offered
The adult education program will offer 200-hour courses in the trade programs and in order to graduate the adults must complete standards upheld by three regulators, which vary based on the trade. The programming is a far cry from the 2,000 hours a trade student will have spent learning their trade in high school, but it is enough to get the basics down that a student will need to understand the field.
"Employers are looking for someone that is reliable, that shows up on time and can be professional and has a basic understanding of what they need to do," John Mitchell, who teaches electrical at Blackstone Valley Tech, said. "If someone comes in with a good work ethic and is dependable, they are going to be able to learn."
Dan Lannon teaches plumbing at Blackstone Valley Tech, a position he started this year after working as a supervisor at Boston College’s facilities department and running his own plumbing and heating business.
"The truth is, if you have some level of background on working in plumbing, we can teach you to do the job pretty quickly," Lannon said. "What employers can’t teach is reliability and professionalism, and that is what they want to see in someone."
May said classes will begin in January and the program will wrap up in June. The applicants she has spoken with come from a wide range of backgrounds.
"I spoke with an 18-year-old who said they didn’t really know what they wanted to do, but they had graduated high school and were working at a pizza shop and wanted to learn a trade," May said. "We also had a gentlemen who is 60 years old and had been laid off while working in tech, and he said that he needed to find a new career and he has always wanted to work with his hands."
Steele said that by working with the school’s advisory board, which has over 400 industry representatives, the program will focus on churning out employees who can step right back into the workforce.
"We want to provide that skilled labor that employers are looking for," Steele said. "It would be a false promise if we were not providing the kind of training that employers are looking for."
The school stated the funding is expected to continue beyond this year and that Blackstone Valley Tech is looking at expanding curriculum options in future years for the adult education program.
Chapter 74 Vocational Technical & Agricultural Education
LEARNING THAT WORKS FOR MASSACHUSETTS
David J. Ferreira
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