Vocational training is making a comeback. That’s the message SCILL Center Director Ron Gifford shared with the Culver School Board Monday.
“We’re certainly not at that point where every kid’s got to go to college anymore, thank goodness,” he said. “And so we’re trying to help and assist in putting people into jobs that are well-paying, and they have a career in front of them that will be really good for them and their families, as well.”
Gifford says the SCILL Center serves students from 10 high schools at its Knox facility, through the North Central Area Vocational Cooperative. During his update to the Culver School Board, he said SCILL now offers three programs. The automotive program is the longest-running, having trained over 600 students since 2000.
Meanwhile, the welding program is now in its fifth year. Gifford says a continuing shortage of welders means many SCILL students are able to get jobs right out of high school. “We had a student from Plymouth who was only with us for one year,” he said. “He now works for an underground piping company, travels all over the country, and makes in excess of $100,000 a year with a high school education.”
In an effort to meet industries’ future needs, the SCILL Center launched an automation, robotics and equipment maintenance program this past fall. Gifford says SCILL is the only place in the state offering this type of training at the high school level. “We are emulating exactly the same curriculum that you would get if you went to Ivy Tech for this program right now,” he said. “So our kids will come out of there with two years, 27 dual credits – that’s almost a full year of studies, be able to continue education at Ivy Tech or someplace else in this field if they so choose, but they’ll be way ahead of everybody else, doing that.” Gifford says the SCILL Center is also working with companies to set up apprenticeship programs.
In addition to vocational training for high school students, the SCILL Center also offers various programs for adults. “Almost 90 to 95 percent of our participants in that now are coming to us through a WorkOne office in one of the counties in the area, and we are able to place about 80 to 85 percent of those people that come through our program,” Gifford said. “What I’m telling you is what we’re really doing is we’re taking unemployed people and we’re giving them 12 weeks of training and we’re putting them into a job.”
You’ll be able to hear Gifford’s complete presentation to the Culver School Board this Sunday at noon on Kankakee Valley Viewpoints.
