Seventh career tech open house draws 300
Published 4:50 pm Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Public Service Academy students extract a mock vehicle wreck “victim” from the vehicle during an emergency response drill at the career tech center Monday.
Nearly 300 people attended LeCroy Career Technical Center’s seventh annual open house Monday to tour the campus and learn more about different departments in career tech education.
The Advanced Manufacturing Academy, including electronics, HVACR (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) and welding courses, was highlighted this year as a new program designed to provide students with classroom curriculum and hands-on training needed for jobs in the manufacturing industry.
The program is offered through a partnership between LCTC and Jefferson State Community College, along with a 21st Century Workforce Act grant.
Another program people visited at the open house was Health Science, which prepares students to enter nursing programs after high school.
Jemison High School student Tylor Curtis (left) gives ventilations at the head of a simulation model and JHS student Allie Wilson gives compressions at the chest during a code blue simulation in the Health Science department.
Using simulation models resembling mannequins, Health Science students carried out mock “code blue” scenarios in which their patients went into cardiac or respiratory arrest and needed CPR.
Instructors Debra Sosa and Nancy Taylor teach 24 students in the morning class and 24 in the afternoon class.
“They’ve all worked so hard,” Sosa said. “They are just a joy to teach. They want to know more. They’re very inquisitive.”
The students also received and treated an emergency “patient” from a mock car wreck on the front lawn of LCTC.
The patient was extracted from his vehicle by students in the Public Service Academy who responded to the emergency call, and he was transported to the Health Science building by CARE Ambulance for treatment.
A Life Flight helicopter was also on the scene.
The vehicle in the wreck dramatization was provided by Auto Collision Repair and Painting (Chris Baker).
The LeCroy Academy of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and the new chemistry lab were open.
Chemistry students made liquid nitrogen ice cream.
Other demonstrations included vacuum Ping-Pong in HVACR and demo collision repair in the Auto Collision department.
Complimentary food and drinks were served in the conference center.
LCTC partnered with the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce for the open house to be a Business After Hours event open to the public.
