NEW MADRID, Mo. - The success of career education programs is growing.
According to the Missouri Department of Education, 95 percent of career education program graduates were employed, continuing their education or serving in the military in 2017.
Currently, the New Madrid County R-1 School District is working with industry to expand the course options available through its Technical Skills Center with the introduction of its pathways to electrician program. The two-year class will teach students how to work on a variety of industrial electrical equipment used by such regional industries as Magnitude 7 Metals, SRG and Nucor, according to school officials.
Dr. Sam Duncan, New Madrid County R-1 superintendent, said the equipment will arrive before classes begin in August.
The initial class will be open to approximately 30 students and will provide instruction in electrical theory, industrial motor control, programmable logic control, variable frequency drives, hydraulics and pneumatics among other topics. Duncan said the district would like to open the program up to not only students who attend New Madrid County R-1 Technical Skills Center but also schools from throughout the region.
Currently the District’s Technical Skills Center serves about 125 students.
“We want to grow that,” he said about enrollment. “I think there is a new focus on how do technical skills centers re-connect to the actual work force and the jobs that are truly available now that may or may not require a college education.”
Duncan praised the leadership of the TSC director Renee Smith and her work to develop the electricians program. For further information about the pathways to electricians program or other classes offered through the TSC, contact Smith at telephone number 688-2161, extension 311.