One day you’re a mechanic.
The next day, you’re a chef.
The day after that, you’re a welder.
It may sound unbelievable, but that’s the exact experience rising 8th-, 9th-, and 10th-graders are having at the Questar III BOCES CTE Summer Camp in Troy, a weeklong summer camp that lets students try out five different in-demand careers to see how they fit.
Today, they’re in the culinary arts classroom at Robert H. Gibson Technical School in Troy, trying their hand at making homemade pizza. Students put on aprons and gather around stainless-steel tables in tight-knit groups, measuring, stirring, and kneading the pizza dough.
“That’s what CTE is about; hands-on,” said Chef Mary Nescot, a culinary arts instructor and member of the Rensselaer-Columbia-Greene BOCES Teachers Association. She strives for hyper-realism in her classes. “You are on your feet the whole entire time cooking, baking, and cleaning. It’s just like if they were to be in a real restaurant.”
In the construction unit, students learned to use chop saws and drills to build birdhouses, but construction technology instructor Mike McGillycuddy also mixes in a good dose of math and project management. McGillycuddy, a member of the Rensselaer-Columbia-Greene BOCES Teachers Association, said the end goal is to prepare students for high-paying jobs in fields they enjoy. “That’s our goal, to get them out into the field,” McGillycuddy said.
At the end of each day, students have a product they can take home, whether it be a chocolate dot cake or a birdhouse – and that’s powerful. “They’re leaving with something they made with their bare hands and that goes a long way,” he said.
Usually, students don’t have access to Career and Technical Education classes until their junior or senior year of high school, but educators hope that giving kids a quick taste of these popular trades might whet their appetites for more.
“When they’re just in the traditional school setting, they might not know what else is out there,” said Eric Papandrea, principal at Robert H. Gibson Technical School. “This is a great way to expose them to different careers that are out there, as well as things that may interest them in their junior and senior year.”
The program caters to Rensselaer, Columbia and Greene counties and is offered on a first-come, first-served basis at the Troy campus and the Donald Kline Technical School in Hudson. This is the second year the camps have been offered, and interest is high. Total enrollment is 43, and both camps filled quickly.
Part of the allure is the focus on project-based learning, said Patrick Baldoc, vice president of CTE for Questar III BOCES. Students enjoy being active participants in their learning and engaging in lessons that have real world stakes, he said.
“They’re learning through trial and error, and that’s so important,” said Baldoc. “They have the opportunity to have these ‘ah-ha’ moments, and see why something came together, or why it didn’t.”
Educators say work-based learning is increasing in popularity because it teaches students more than how to hold a hammer or build a circuit; it helps them find a place where they belong.
“They really get into what we’re doing in the classrooms, so there are a ton of success stories,” said Nescot. “I've seen kids who don't like their high schools come here and flourish.”
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