Published: Thursday, August 3, 2006
Called 'a good investment,' new TCTC facility opens
The GM Lordstown complex sponsored Thursday's open house.
BY AMANDA GARRETT
CHAMPION — New classrooms filled with state-of-the-art equipment will greet students at the Trumbull Career and Technical Center's new adult education building when they begin classes later this month.
TCTC officials and local dignitaries celebrated the opening of the $6.4 million, 44,000-square-foot facility today.
One of the best things about the new facility is that it didn't cost county taxpayers any additional money, Superintendent Wayne McClain said.
TCTC's levy has remained the same for 30 years, he said. "It was 2.4 mills in 1976 and it's 2.4 mills now."
The new facility, at the far east end of Educational Highway, was completed in a remarkably short period, McClain said. "This facility was built in nine months from the first shovel full of dirt being moved to the move-in on June 29 and 30."
It was designed by GPD Associates, and the construction was overseen by R.P. Carbone Co., both national companies.
About the new facility
The facility is divided into two floors, which will be used exclusively by adult students. The training center addition is connected by enclosed walkways with the older part of the facility, which teaches 1,000 high school students.
The first floor of the building contains offices, a computer lab, classrooms for the Adult Basic and Literacy Education and GED program, and a courtyard and atrium where students can relax.
The second floor is mostly an area where medical students learn, said Pam Young, licensed practical nurse instructor. The medical classrooms are equipped with dummies and medical equipment that students can use for practice.
Each classroom is also equipped with a projector that can screen the Internet or DVDs and a partition that can divide the classroom, making it larger or smaller as needed.
Previously, TCTC's adult education had been at the Gordon D. James Career Center in Lordstown. TCTC's board decided to build the adult learning center because of the yearly $240,000 lease on the facility.
The addition also gives TCTC the advantage of having everything on one campus, McClain said.
Looking ahead
The new facility comes at a time when the job market is uncertain, said Jim Bowling, who is the associate director for career/technical and adult education for the Ohio Department of Education.
"The new facility is a good investment for the future," he said. "The majority of the work force is working right now, but that may change as more companies have difficulty competing."
The interest in adult education continues to grow as area companies such as General Motors and Delphi Packard downsize, said Young, who has worked as an adult instructor at TCTC for six years.
"There's been a lot more interest in recent years," she said. "We added an evening LPN program because there was so much demand for it."
GM's Lordstown complex sponsored Thursday's open house and TCTC is working closely with GM and Delphi to provide information about job retraining, McClain said.
Both companies are distributing TCTC catalogs at their local plants, and GM Lordstown is sponsoring the training center's open house.
The training center offers programs in health care, computer technology, trade and industry and personal enrichment.
Most of the full-time degrees can be completed in nine to 11 months, McClain said.
The LPN nursing program and the computerized office technology program are two of the most popular degrees with the training center's 3,000 adult students, McClain said. Some of the other full-time programs TCTC provides are automotive technology, building maintenance/construction trades and medical administrative specialist.
agarrett@vindy.com
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