Author: Cindy Dunigan

Community Visitors Share Tips

Three project managers from VMS Construction came to Stafford this morning to present to the Construction, Electrical/Plumbing, Natural Resources and Power Mechanics/Welding programs. They shared job opportunities, the residential and commercial jobs that they have completed and how important the trade skills are to their business. They gave this list of advice to the students to be successful in any field they choose:

1. Be on time
2. Work ethic
3. Effort
4. Body language
5. Energy
6. Attitude
7. Be coachable
8. Passion
9. Do extra
10. Be prepared

They also stressed the importance of having strong communication skills to be successful in the field.

SkillsUSA VT 2018

Press Release
For Immediate Release
April 9, 2018
South Burlington, VT
Contact: [email protected]

South Burlington, VT – About 89 Stafford Technical Center participated in the SkillsUSA Leadership Conference at various locations in and around South Burlington on April 4th and 5th. Students from a variety of programs competed in events that allow students to develop and demonstrate personal, workplace and technical skills. A few competitions were held on the weekends leading up to the two-day conference.

SkillsUSA is a national partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA is an individual membership organization serving middle school, high school and college/postsecondary students who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled and service occupations, including health occupations. SkillsUSA Inc. is a national nonprofit and tax-exempt organization.

Stafford Technical Center garnered 33 medals total in individual and group competitions, including 8 Gold medals, 18 Silver medals, and 7 Bronze medals. Medal winners attend Stafford Technical Center from the following schools: Fair Haven Union High School, Rutland High School, Otter Valley Union High School, Mill River Union High School, Poultney High School, Proctor High School, Mount St. Joseph Academy, West Rutland High School and homeschooling.

Also recognized as Advisor of the Year was Stafford’s own John Bixby, Electrical and Plumbing Instructor. Bixby was recognized for his years of service to SkillsUSA and his contribution of setting up the Team Works competition in the state of Vermont.

Gold medal winners are: Anthony Petrossi (MRUHS) in Firefighting, Caden Curtis (RHS) and Levi Tarbell (MRUHS) in Team Works, James Mars (Poultney HS) in Plumbing, Matthew Rock (RHS) in Medical Math, Noah Logan (RHS) and Johnathan Urbani (RHS) in Additive Manufacturing, and Matthew Rock (RHS) in Job Interview.

Silver medal winners are: Dylan Beebe (MRUHS) and Samuel Norton (MRUHS) in Interactive Game Design, K. “Jasper” Lynch (RHS) in Pin Design, Carter Colwell (RHS), Zariannah Guyette (RHS) and Hunter Lanfear (MRUHS) in Crime Scene Investigation, Dylan Beebe (MRUHS) in Extemporaneous Speaking, Brittany Stewart (OVUHS) in Cosmetology, Jacob White (OVUHS) in Action Skills, Gregg Godda (Proctor HS) and Marcus Rockwell (MRUHS) in Teamworks,
Logan Kenyon (RHS) and Gavin Owens (homeschooled) in TV Video Production, Hunter Lanfear (MRUHS) in Job Skills Demo, Darin Alt (FHUHS) in Plumbing, William Li (MSJ) in Medical Math, Brooke Galvin (FHUHS) in Technical Drafting, Kegan Stellato (RHS) in Photography.

Bronze medal winners are: Julie Cressy (WRHS) in Pin Design, Ryan Ward (MRUHS) in Extemporaneous Speaking, Jared Disorda (OVUHS) in Plumbing, Dan Denton (RHS) and Nick Fish (RHS) in Digital Cineman Production, Victoria Dubois (FHUHS) in Job Interview, and Lauren Lape (OVUHS) in Job Skills Demo A.

RAB Meeting November 20 2017

The meeting was called to order at 8:01 am

In attendance:
Glenn Olson, Melissa Connor, Bill Lucci, Cindy Dunigan, Mary Moran, Tyler Richardson, Kirk Shields, Jim Eckhardt, Mallory Ezequelle, Scott Richards, Blair Enman, Aaron Pratt, Marsha Bruce, Brook Olson-Farrell, Judith Pullinen, Debra Taylor, David Younce, Chris Wideawake, Student reps: Maddie Morse, Jacob Crockett, Eric McDonnell

Introductions

Motion was made and approved to accept the minutes from September 28, 2017, meeting [Mary/Scott]

Student representatives reported that the Dollhouse is open for the year and booked through January. The cosmetology salon has undergone rebranding and is now called Salon at Stafford and is also open for the year.
Finances
FY 2019 Perkins request Motion was made and approved to accept the Federal Carl D. Perkins grant for FY19 to use in support of the operation of Stafford Technical Center with an anticipated award amount of $259,942. [Debra/ Marsha]

FY19 Budget Motion was made and approved to accept the FY19 budget as presented with total expenditures of $4,951,588 resulting in a total tuition of $15, 457 [Marsha/Debra]
Marsha, Deb, and Mary all expressed thanks to Melissa for her hard work with the staff to keep expenditures low and for her overall work with the budget.

Equipment Grant Motion was made and approved to accept the FY18 Vermont State Equipment Grant in support of equipment purchases at Stafford Technical Center in the amount of $27,647.05 [Mallory/Chris]

Outreach: Cindy reported that Rutland Town and Poultney 8th graders have visited and Mill River 8th graders are currently visiting. Roadshow dates are being set now, and our new school commercial is ready to be run on tv and streaming for recruitment season. Adult Education and day programs got together and purchased advertising at the Rutland Flagship Cinemas that will start running in early December including during the new Star Wars premiere.

Program Committee: A motion was made and approved to accept the Program Review Procedures that will be used to set action plans for programs when enrollment drops below a set rate. [Mary/Chris] Mallory asked if the procedure numbers included adult education. Glenn explained that it includes adult day students but not night school programs. Debra asked if any programs were below a 75% enrollment currently. Human Services might be close to that. Glenn stressed that the Program Review Procedures include steps to improve enrollment.
NEASC Update: Bill Lucci and Lisa Fennimore shared the School and Community Profile Summary that will be shared with the NEASC team for our upcoming NEASC Decennial visit. Also shared was the full itinerary for the visit. Please note the change in dates from previously shared documents. The visit is scheduled for November 4 through November 8th, 2018. Lisa will be the editor of all reports that will be shared with the team. Bill thanked Lisa for offering to help in this way.

Director’s Report Glenn thanked Melissa for her hard work on the budget documents. Glenn reviewed the positive feedback received on the Legislative breakfast. The current students, alumni students, and parent provided positive stories of how Stafford enriched their lives. Glenn stressed the point that many of our students do go on to post-secondary education. Mary spoke of the many pathways to success, including, but not limited to, college.

Stafford staff are all taking part in a professional development focused on literacy through MAX teaching.

Glenn reported on the Vermont Talent Pipeline Management, an organization that is focused on providing a qualified workforce for Vermont. Currently, they are focused on construction management but will be branching out into health services and advanced manufacturing.

Old Business None
New Business None
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 am

Mr. Lucci

Mr. Lucci, of our adult education programs, has taken up boxing!

Stafford Technical Center is pleased to unveil a student-created bench made possible by a grant from Rutland South Rotary. Last spring Stafford was awarded a $750.00 grant for a student project. The funds were used to purchase the materials to build an “Adirondack style” bench by two students in the Power Mechanics and Welding program.
Dylan Brown and Hunter Given, both seniors at Stafford Technical Center from Fair Haven Union High School, worked on the bench through the first semester of school this year. Under the watchful eye of the instructors, Tony Bosnich and Jim Patry, the students measured, cut, sanded and welded the bench together from steel pieces.
Rotarian Roger W. Louiselle, contacted Melanson’s Co. to request help with powder coating the bench. Melanson’s Co has the largest powder coat booth set up in the state of VT. Melanson’s provided sandblasting, zinc coating, and powder coat finish to the bench, as well as the time and effort of three employees spending a day on the project. Currently, the bench is inside Stafford Technical Center until it can be placed in its permanent home outside the school.