Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are on the forefront of education reform across the region and nation, offering certification in a broad scope of paths in skilled trades such as construction, manufacturing, machining, and engineering.
The Genesee Valley Educational Partnership (GVEP) Technical Education Center in Batavia, NY will partner with CLASSE to advance efforts to train high school students and enhance workforce development in the region.
The American Society for Training and Development (2012) highlights the growing gap in the need for skilled workers in the United States. The lack of skilled workers, referred to as a gap in “middle skills”, impacts the ability of the U.S. to keep pace with productivity, slowing development, research and ultimately the economy.
Tim Gleba, Precision Machining instructor at GVEP, approached CHESS after viewing a segment featuring machinist John Buettler at Advanced Design Consulting. Gleba, who has partnered with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) HUNCH program to motivate his high school students, was inspired by Buettler’s story. Gleba would like his machining students to experience the same satisfaction in their work as Buettler does in his work. Gleba believes a partnership between GVEP and CLASSE could motivate the next generation of machinist and scientist through the promotion of hands-on, design-based projects for students.
A collaboration between CLASSE and GVEP will allow career technical education students the opportunity to study realistic particle accelerator hardware designs and fabricate hardware based on those designs. “We believe this collaboration would expand the students’ knowledge of STEM career fields and provide with them with in depth knowledge of some of the research at Cornell” says Gleba. GVEP students will be touring Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory in November to kick-off this new, 21st century educational initiative.