Vocational school offerings featured at open house
MEXICO – The Region 9 School of Applied Technology had its community open house Tuesday, giving parents, potential students and local residents a chance to see what the school has to offer.
The school moved all its programs to a single building a few years ago. “It made it a lot easier for people to come and see what we have,” said student services coordinator Cheryl Ellis.
Region 9 serves Mountain Valley, Dirigo and Telstar Regional high schools, and presents its 160 students the chance to earn high school credit while gaining the skills and experience needed for immediate job entry. Programs are offered in 10 fields, including nursing, Web page design and forestry.
Tours of the school’s facilities were offered by members of the Vocational Industry Club of America, a group that promotes high standards and leadership. Among other things, VICA sponsors annual state and national competitions in several different trades. Only one student from each program can represent Region 9 at the state competition held next March in Bangor.
“It’s a big deal,” said Norm Jamison, a coordinator for VICA. “If we have a gold medal winner in Bangor, then they get to spend a week in Kansas City.
A lot of industry people go there because they want to see the cream of the crop.”
People taking the tour of Region 9 saw all of its classrooms, including a fully equipped metal works shop, and the harvester simulator room where forestry students receive virtual training.
“And then we’ve got the real harvester,” said Marc Dupuis, who teaches forestry and wood harvesting. A local resident has given Dupuis’ students permission to hone their forestry/harvesting skills on her land.
Another plot of land that was recently gifted to the University of Maine has been added to future projects. “It must be close to 200 acres,” Dupuis said. “We’re just waiting for the deed to go through before we finish marking it.”
Dupuis’ classroom is adjacent to an area where students learn about building construction, a program that takes on some big projects of its own. “They are building a house,” explained Ellis. “It will be sold as part of a plan to promote home ownership.”
Tuesday night’s open house featured a presentation on financial aid to help students planning to apply to Region 9.
For information on this or any of the school’s programs, phone 364-3764
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