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CHAMPION -- The Trumbull Career and Technical Center is preparing students for high-demand careers after they graduate, including professions that are needed during a pandemic such as nursing, child care and auto repair.
As part of Career and Technical Education Month in February, the center has been showcasing many of the center's programs.
Morgan Cretella, community engagement coordinator, said many jobs are in demand right now during the pandemic such as in child care for parents who have gone back to work while schools are not all open five days per week, and also health care fields.
She said also people have more time to have work done on their vehicles, so those in auto repair and maintenance are needed.
She said usually a public open house is held at the center to showcase the programs, but it could not be held because of the pandemic so an adapted program online was provided.
Cretella said a "Last Look" open house is being planned for sophomores from area high schools 5:30 p.m. March 30 to showcase the school.
Barb Meyer, pre-nursing phlebotomy instructor, said those who are trained and earn their State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA) certification will be able to find jobs not only in health care facilities, but also in home health care.
"These students will be very marketable even if there was no pandemic. The pandemic has made them even more marketable. They are learning basic hands-on nursing care. There are many people trying to keep their loved ones at home instead of sending them to a long-term care facility where they won't be able to see them. There will be jobs for them to help lessen the load on so many who are overworked already," Meyer said.Cretella said the center offers programs that focus on real-world, hands-on experience to prepare students for high-wage, high-demand careers.
A'Niyah Pullen, 16, of Girard, a sophomore in the nursing program, said she will look at working at a nursing home or in home health care.
"The hands-on activities we do in class are really helping me," she said.
For child care, early education instructor Ashley Chilton said there is a demand for workers at daycares and preschools, which became even more necessary during the pandemic.
"The essential workers had nowhere to send their children so child care was needed. Many centers opened to take care of children. We get calls from many preschools looking for graduates with a CDA (Child Development Associate)," she said.
Chilton said students want to go right into the job market after high school, and if they want to skip college, they can get hired at about any preschool with the certifications.
"We have people call all the time, employers around the area, preschools asking if we have seniors that we might recommend or graduated seniors who have already gotten their CDA," Chilton said.
Joe'l Hood, 16, of Newton Falls, in early child care, said she feels what she is gaining will be something she will always be able to use.
"I am going to college so I will have a lot of options and may be able to do this while in college," she said.
Brad Ronyak, auto collision instructor, said the demand for students with auto collision certification increased during the pandemic because more people were not working but received a stimulus check and went to take care of repairs they had been putting off.
He said some of his students have already found jobs at local businesses.
"I have local shops calling me from Greene to Youngstown saying they need people. I've had independent shops reach out to me looking for potential employees," Ronyak said.
Austin Double, 17, of Masury, said his family works on cars so it is something with which he is familiar.
"I want to get into restoration work and have my own business. The experience I am getting here will help prepare for that," he said.
Tiffany Fonagy, instructor of physical therapy and sports medicine, said the students can become certified as personal trainers and can do that while they attend college. She said there is a big demand for personal trainers and physical therapists.
Upon graduation, TCTC students will have the opportunity to obtain certifications in various fields that allow them to enter the workforce, or further their education.
TCTC offers 30 programs.