Leading Schools Series
A three-year trade school in Pennsylvania has become a shining example of how learning a trade can scoop people out of low-income situations and place them firmly in high-paying careers.
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Clinton Community College, a member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, isn’t a traditional community college. Located just outside of Plattsburgh, New York and overlooking Lake Champlain, the school is redefining what it means to be a community college.
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Roger Williams first encountered Craig Cegielski at an October 2014 conference for plastics manufacturers in Indianapolis, Indiana. Cegielski was delivering a presentation on Cardinal Manufacturing, the revolutionary industrial arts program he started at Eleva-Strum Central High School in Strum, Wisconsin. Williams, president of the Indiana-based Royer Corporation, was in the audience listening. “It was the last presentation of the day. It was a great day—a lot of good stuff. So I’m kind of leaning back in my chair and Craig starts talking and I hear this ‘student-run business.’ Wow. So I kind of lean up and I start listening to this program that they have put together,” Williams said. “It got my attention like right now. In fact, as he was talking, I start texting Nathan Hadley, who’s our executive director of economic development in our area, who I work with. I said, ‘Nathan, Google Cardinal Manufacturing.’ Unbelievable. Home run all the way,” he added. So Williams immediately started meeting with the superintendent of Madison Consolidated Schools, leaders of the local community college, and local industry leaders. “Before I know it, there’s eight of us and we’re doing a field trip to Eleva-Strum in Strum, Wisconsin to see how…
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Schools like the University of Wisconsin at Stout are addressing the other side of the skills-gap equation. If public schools are going to bring back the trades, then they’ll need educators to teach them. The university’s Emerging Center for Career and Technical Education Excellence seeks to “serve the career and technical education community by meeting the 21st century needs of K-12 and postsecondary technical educators who are at the forefront of workforce education.” The Center offers a number of bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees in the career and technical education (CTE) fields—all of which are geared towards the training of teachers. “UW-Stout is uniquely qualified to address the needs of career and technical educators and leaders as it is the only UW campus that offers a full complement of career and technical education programs,” its website explains. “Graduates from the CTE programs are prepared to teach and lead within secondary and postsecondary settings such as high schools, community colleges, public and private technical colleges, and industrial training programs.” In fact, the Center’s doctoral degree in career and technical education was first launched in 2013, and is the university’s first and only doctoral program. “The degree is designed to help…
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Like Cardinal Manufacturing in Strum, Wisconsin, Rocket Manufacturing in Rock Valley, Iowa takes “hands-on learning” to a whole new level. Both programs run actual manufacturing businesses with real clients, providing students with work experience in the trades before they even graduate from high school.
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Machine shop training in public high schools has dwindled nationally either because of a lack of funding or no funding at all. So in 2006, instructor Craig Cegielski approached the Eleva-Strum School Board in Strum, Wisconsin with an odd request. Rather than asking for money, Cegielski instead requested permission to launch an in-school manufacturing business.
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Maplewood High is the only school in the nation with its own Firestone Service Center.
There, you will find high school students trained not only in mechanics, but trained in the ways of life and working their way out of poverty, all thanks to instructor TJ Williams.
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