Not just nuts & bolts

Vocational schools evolve to keep up with high-tech times

By Matthew Bruun and Rushmie Kalke TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Noelle M. Wilson, 17, of Marlboro, left, and Kaila M. Harpin, 15, of Maynard try to solve a math problem in an Introduction to Engineering Design class at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlboro. (T&G Staff/TOM RETTIG)

The days of behaviorally challenged “grease monkeys” toiling in dank shops are gone.

“A decade ago, vocational schools were labeled for the kids who weren’t cutting it in the regular high school,” Worcester Technical High School Principal Sheila Frias said this week. “That mold has certainly been broken.”

Modern vocational schools have evolved to become career preparatory establishments where students learn skilled trades while also having to keep up with the state’s academic standards. They boast the latest technological advancements, but may also offer Advanced Placement classes.

There may be no greater monument to the evolution of vocational education than the $90 million Worcester Technical High School that opened last fall on Skyline Drive. State of the art in every sense, the hilltop edifice is equipped with the latest technology and fixtures to prepare its increasingly competitive pool of students for the ever-advancing work world that awaits them after graduation.

The old image of the trade school is obsolete, administrators say, with technical schools across the region adapting to increasingly complex missions. They still offer core areas such as automotive repair, culinary arts and carpentry, but also train students for careers in telecommunications, biotechnology or engineering.

Vocational schools in Central Massachusetts offer training to help students prepare for careers in the majority of the 25 fastest growing occupations in the state, as defined by the Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development.

So complex has the job become, in fact, that a large percentage of technical school graduates need to continue their schooling before beginning their careers.

At Worcester Technical High School, 70 percent of the graduates will go on to additional education, including four-year schools, Director of Vocational Education Peter C. Crafts said.

“The fields have become so technical now,” Mr. Crafts said. “Just going to a technical school alone won’t handle it.”

At Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlboro, 50 percent of its graduates went off to work, 48 percent enrolled in a higher education program, and 2 percent joined the military, Principal Mary Jo Nawrocki said.

“As a school, that is our charge,” she said, describing the responsibility to get students ready for all options. “What I really like about technical education is that the academic education is the same as a comprehensive school and students are learning technical skills. There are a wide variety of choices.”

David McCarthy, 20, a graduate of Assabet Valley who now attends Fitchburg State College as a computer information major, said his high school courses helped prepare him for college. During breaks and summers he still works for the company he had a co-op job with in high school, helping to build his résumé and experience.

“I am definitely doing what I really like to do, and it’s not just what I am good at, but what I enjoy doing,” Mr. McCarthy said. Assabet Valley, he added, “helped give me an idea of what I enjoy and has given me a network.”

Many of the vocational schools foster relationships with local colleges, providing opportunities for students to earn college credits while still in high school.

While the schools have evolved technologically, they haven’t forsaken the attention to building skills that will render graduates immediately employable. Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School in Fitchburg, for instance, offers courses in information technology, graphic communications and electronics, but also features cabinetmaking, plumbing and welding.

At Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School in Charlton, the focus continues to be on standard offerings such as drafting, carpentry and auto body repair, according to Superintendent-Director David P. Papagni.

“You have to be careful what the real job market is,” he said. “You can do a lot of exotic things, but are the students employable when they graduate from high school? In most cases, they have to go on to postsecondary education.”

He cited a Bay Path health technologies student who this year received a scholarship to study nursing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Bay Path also is looking at adding pre-engineering to its curriculum, Mr. Papagni said.

Evolving vocational curricula are mirrored in the classroom, where students must pass the MCAS, the same as their counterparts in traditional high schools.

But unlike their peers, students at the technical schools need to demonstrate their competencies in their selected trades.

“I’ve always told the kids they have to do twice the work in half the time,” Mr. Papagni said.

Assabet Valley added Advanced Placement courses in English and government this year, and Worcester Technical High School is looking to add an AP biology course to its offerings next year.

At Worcester, Mr. Crafts recalls working for years in the old vocational high school at Wheaton Square. He said there is no comparison between the facilities, calling the former site an analog structure in a digital world.

“It outlived its usefulness many years ago,” he said. “We’re in the digital technology era.”

In the automotive shop in the new school, for example, cars and SUVs were up on lifts as students made repairs, while in an adjacent classroom other students in the course worked on computers.

Mr. Crafts said today’s cars pack more computer technology than Sputnik, so students need to be prepared to work with the latest electronic advancements and also need to have the skills to adapt to future developments. They can’t just be “grease monkeys,” he said.

“You’re not necessarily working with your hands anymore,” Ms. Frias added, noting that students working in one shop use computers to cut sheet metal.

The region’s vocational schools also forge partnerships with private industry, via advisory boards dedicated to separate trades as well as internship opportunities.

Michael Meagher, who teaches electromechanical technology at Worcester Technical High School, said local companies have been very generous in providing supplies that would be beyond the scholastic budget.

The allure for private industry, the administrators and educators agreed, is they get to help establish their future work force.

“There is not enough talent to keep these places in business,” Mr. Meagher said. “This is robotics and automotive technology. This isn’t your dad’s vocational technology program.”

Reporter Brian Lee also contributed to this story.