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PLATTSBURGH — This isn't grandpa's shop class.

Gone is the negative perception that chalks up career and technical education to an alternative for students with limited options and no chance at college.

Today's tech programs provide students with real-world experience and prepare them for college and/or careers in computer programming, biotechnology, business administration, animation and more.

Career and technical studies have gained ground in the last decade, blossoming just in time for some — victims of recession layoffs — to take the next step in their careers.

"Finding a job at my age is difficult," said 59-year-old Chris Young.

He worked for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals for 20 years in supervision as a maintenance planner before an "unplanned exit" nearly a year ago. He's now a student at CV-TEC, a division of Champlain Valley Educational Services.

"I am taking drafting to enhance my abilities."

RISING ENROLLMENT
CV-TEC offers an array of courses, certifications and trainings, including heavy equipment/diesel mechanics, carpentry, computer technologies, medical office assisting, security and law enforcement, and graphic design and communications.

"There have been dramatic changes in this business," said Dr. Barry Mack, director of CV-TEC. "The focus has changed from just jobs to productive careers and lifelong learning."

American vocational education dates back to World War I. In 1917, Congress passed the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act, which provided funds to train people for farm work.

Over the last decade, career and technical studies started gaining ground as schools evolved beyond traditional hands-on shop classes.

Suddenly, career centers started offering such programs as photography, art, business, automotive, home economics, hospitality, fashion, environmental design.

Enrollment has soared with the changes, with 9.66 million enrolled nationally in career and technical education in 1999 compared to roughly 16 million during the 2006-07 school year, according to the Consolidated Annual Report published by the U.S. Department of Education.

A total of 430 students enrolled at CV-TEC in 1999-2000. Those numbers rose to 618 this school year.

"We try to go into the schools and talk to 10th-graders and have them come up here," Mack said. "The average school is sending 26 percent of its juniors and seniors here."

Students attend CV-TEC every school day for half the day.

"The atmosphere is relaxed, and everyone wants to learn what they are learning," said Chelsey Pickering, an 11th-grader at Peru Central School who is in the Allied Health program at CV-TEC.

She'll be a certified nurse's assistant when she graduates from CV-TEC and plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing.

"I always wanted to help people."

She's well on her way if her final two years of high-school match that of the typical CV-TEC student. Roughly 93 percent of them pass their Regents exams.

As students progress in the program, they spend days with area employers as part of paid and unpaid internships.

And the number of colleges that offer credits for students taking CV-TEC programs has increased with articulation agreements.

"We try to stay connected with area businesses," Mack said. "They rely on skilled employees, and we play a pretty important role in providing skilled employees to area businesses."

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
CV-TEC is pursuing national accreditation for its program.

"We have matched up curriculums to national standards, and that is a major shift in this business," Mack said.

According to the Virginia-based Association for Career and Technical Education, 80 percent of current and emerging occupations require two-year technical degrees, while just 20 percent require baccalaureate degrees.

Mack pointed out that 102 adults attend CV-TEC's daytime programs.

"That is pretty unusual around New York state. If we have a seat available, we make it available to them."

John Gibbons, 47, was laid off from his job at Adirondack Residential Center in Schuyler Falls, where he had worked six years as a wilderness aide. Now he is taking drafting courses at CV-TEC to make himself more marketable.

"We are considered displaced workers," said Kevin Ramsey, who worked with Gibbons and was also laid off.

Ramsey is taking drafting courses, too.

"This will prepare us to work for an architect or an engineer."

It's important for CV-TEC to develop a workforce for the area, said Sherry Snow, a business instructor at CV-TEC, who teaches students how to run a restaurant.

The Culinary Arts program there features a state-of-the art commercial kitchen and store.

"It's such a unique opportunity for a students to get this hands-on experience," said Snow, who has been at CV-TEC 15 years. "Most of our students go on to college."

Amber Galarneau plans to do so after a hitch in the U.S. Navy. The 16-year-old Saranac Central School student hopes to try her hand at working with K-9 programs in the military, possibly bomb sniffing and human tracking.

Then she hopes to study canine obedience and agility training in college and open her own business after she graduates.

She enjoys working with a chocolate Labrador named Hydro in CV-TEC's new Animal Science/Veterinary Assistant program.

"I have always loved animals and would love to spend the rest of my life working with them."

E-mail Stephen Bartlett at: sbartlett@pressrepublican.com