Schools, Aberdeen Development Corp. get grants to grow technical ed

Three area career and technical education programs are getting boosts thanks to the state's Workforce Education Grant program.

The Aberdeen Development Corp. got money to partner with Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown to create a diesel technology program, Northwestern Area High School got funds to continue building its agriculture program and the Webster Area School District is developing an architecture and construction program.

Aberdeen Development Corp.

While there are two colleges in Aberdeen, neither focuses on career and technical education. The Aberdeen Development Corp. noticed a need for diesel technicians, CEO Michael Bockorny said.

"It came about from our workforce development work over the years. ... We're just looking to do what we can to fill that need," he said.

The development corporation will partner with Lake Area to provide classes to people in and around Aberdeen, he said. There will likely be online components and possibly a learn-and-work option.

"There's a lot of different ways to deliver education opportunities right now," Bockorny said. "Lake Area and we are currently exploring a lot of different potential options."

Having resources in Aberdeen is important because not everyone can move for a couple of years to complete a technical program, Bockorny said.

The Aberdeen Development Corp.'s share of the grant — $250,000 — will go to setting up space in Aberdeen, he said.

"There's a lot of tools and equipment that you need," Bockorny said. "It'll go to help finish out some space for their lab, possibly, if they need that. If not, a lot of it will be to purchase the equipment and the tooling that they need to offer top-level instruction to students."

Northwestern Area

After a great first year in FFA, the agriculture program at Northwestern is working to expand into more high-tech ag fields.

About half of the $150,000 needed to buy the equipment is covered by the Workforce Education Grant, said Noelle Swanson, the district's agriculture teacher. It was one of two grants the district was awarded for the program.

One of the things the school is adding repair and maintenance for overhead valve engines, Swanson said.

"With this grant we'll have brand new, straight-off-the-assembly-line small engines from Briggs & Stratton for kids to work with, as well as all the tools they'd see in industry," she said. They'll also have access to the same online tools that the professionals have."

The school is also working to create a career and technical education technology lab, Swanson said. It will be used for programming, auto cad design and landscape design.

One of the neatest additions to the program is a drone.

"We'll be able to use it to do population studies, we'll be able to use it to do crop scouting," she said. "Really monitor crop health, crop growth, pest infestation, which is what agronomists are doing right now."

Webster Area

What's old is new again in Webster.

A few years ago, the multi-district vocational education center in Webster closed, said Amy Miller, assistant high school principal. Now the building that housed that program is being remodeled and will once again have students grace its halls.

"Our community is really excited to expose those kids to career options where they could stay here," Miller said.

The classes and opportunities were missed by students and teachers, and the private sector was beginning to feel a dwindling workforce, she said.

"We have an industry board that's kind of helped us research ... so we spent about two years looking into this," Miller said. "We've got a huge industrial park in Webster and an active development corporation board."

In a partnership with the Webster Area Development Corp., the school is growing its agriculture and industrial tech offerings to include architecture and construction, Miller said. The Waubay School District will also be able to take advantage of the offerings.

The $133,000 grant will help purchase equipment like drafting tables, laser cutters and 3-D printers, Miller said. The development corporation is paying for the remodel of the space.

"It's not something the school thought up, it's something that our community was like, 'We have a workforce shortage and we need to address that when kids are in that 12-to-16-year-old range,'" Miller said.

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