Career Tech no longer a secret
The benefits of the Kettering Fairmont Career Tech Center, once known as the best-kept secret in Kettering, have come into the limelight and are leading to its expansion.
Beginning as a four-program career center in 1976, the current 12 programs offer students opportunities ranging from work experiences to college credits to resume-building professional competitions and more. Coupled with powerful academics and enriching extracurriculars just a walk down the hallway, Kettering students benefit from both academic and career education.
Community acknowledgment and awareness have increased to the point that we began looking to expand student opportunities and, through the generosity of the Kettering community, we are pleased to be adding two more career tech programs: cosmetology and medical assisting.
The new cosmetology program will offer a great service to both the participating students as well as the community as a whole. Offering the same credentialing as beauty schools that charge nearly $20,000, the Kettering program will allow students to sit for their State Board of Cosmetology licensing exams after paying only nominal supply fees.
Cosmetology students require only continuing education after passing their state board exam, so our students will have the added benefit of graduating work-ready with no debt. A requirement of state credentialing is many hours working on actual clients, so the program will turn into an actual salon several afternoons a week to work on community members’ hair, skin and nails for minimal costs. Cut-a-thons for needy students in our community is just one of our ideas for this program to give back to our taxpayers.
The new medical assisting program will serve two needs: the growing number of healthcare workers needed in our community as well as the career training most desired by Kettering students. In a recent study of over 1,800 Kettering 6th-9th-grade students, medical professions was the number one choice, with over 15 percent of respondents.
In addition, the Fairmont Career Tech Center’s current Allied Health program cannot produce enough students to meet the growing needs of the healthcare industry. Students in this new program will earn their State Tested Nurse Aide (STNA) credential as juniors to enable them to work in the medical industry partial days during their senior year of high school. Fairmont medical assisting graduates will have a head start into the rapidly growing pipeline of 2-year degree healthcare jobs.
It is truly thrilling to see the benefits of career-technical education for both students and the workforce move from a secret of which few were aware to acknowledgment at the local, state and national levels. The investment made by the Kettering community into the Fairmont Career Tech Center will benefit many generations to come, and we vow to continue to exceed expectations.