February is Career and Technical Education Month, and we celebrate the past while looking to a brighter future at Ashtabula County Technical & Career Campus (A-Tech).
Ashtabula County has a long history of success in career and technical education. When the campus opened in 1969, Gov. James Rhodes said students should graduate with “a job in one hand and a diploma in the other.”
One of the students on our campus at the time was Dave Campbell. I recently received an email from him. He detailed how enrolling in the Industrial Electronics program in 1969 set him on the path to his illustrious 45-year career in the telecommunications industry.
“My continuing education and entire career all began at Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School,” wrote Campbell, who is retired and lives in Texas.
Fifty-five years later, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was on the A-Tech campus celebrating a $6 million construction grant for a new lab on campus.
A-Tech is embarking on an expansion that will include a new public safety academy with laboratories for criminal justice and firefighter/paramedic programs. The project also includes a new advanced manufacturing lab and academic classrooms.
Enrollment in the 18 high school programs on campus continues to grow, and this new building will allow more students to expand opportunities and gain a competitive advantage for the future.
“Career and technical education is the path to a great life,” Husted noted during his visit.
Campbell's email confirms that. He is just one example of the thousands of students who have completed programs on our campus and gone on to successful careers.
As we lay the foundation for a new facility this summer, we are also building a foundation for future students and a strong future for Ashtabula County.
That's another reason to celebrate.
For more information about our programs, visit www.atech.edu or call 440-576-6015.
Scott Udiga
director
Ashtabula County Technical & Career Campus
