ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District (ISD) is in the early stages of a major project to benefit its Career and Technical Education (CTE) students.
The CTE Center has been renting space from Escanaba High School for its welding lab since the 1960s.
“[That] has been fantastic and a great partnership for us, but it was time to get all of our CTE programming under one roof in Delta County,” said CTE Director Trent Bellingar.
In April, crews broke ground on a 3,600 square-foot expansion, which will contain a workshop that can house the center’s machining, welding, and product design and development programs under one roof.
“It’s going to have an overhead door, state-of-the-art fume extraction and ventilation system, 22 welding booths—currently we have 11,” Bellingar said. “We’ll have the whole manufacturing center in one hub.”
The expansion will also include ten special education staff offices.
“Our entity has grown so much in the last 5 – 7 years that we literally have people in broom closets,” said Bellingar. “We need to give them actual offices that are secure so they can serve our students better.”
It’s a $3.1 million endeavor. $1.4 million of that is Congressionally Directed Spending, supported by Senator Gary Peters and Representative Jack Bergman. The Daniel J Kobasic Foundation made a $500,000 donation. The CTE Center has also received a nearly $330,000 grant for the SME PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) program, developed by the SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers) Education Foundation.
“We partner private industry manufacturers with their local career center to develop custom manufacturing education programs,” explained SME Education Foundation Vice President Rob Luce. “The students are graduating with skill sets and credentials that manufacturers in their community have told us, ‘This is what we need more of from a workforce development standpoint.'”
The foundation has benefitted 110 schools in 23 states. Luce says each program is tailored to the area’s local industry, including in places like the Upper Peninsula.
“Manufacturing is not partial to urban communities,” he said. “Manufacturing happens in small towns just like manufacturing happens in big towns. Regardless of where you are geographically in this state, if you are a manufacturer, you are starving for talent. PRIME helps stimulate that talent pipeline.”
The ISD is the third school in the Upper Peninsula to receive SME PRIME support.
“We were particularly impressed with the Delta Career Center given the strong likelihood of success there,” said Luce. “We based that likelihood on the fact that they have a very strong welding program already in place. They have a very engaged faculty, and PRIME programs are dependent upon the engagement of the teachers in the classroom. Thirdly, it was the strong student population. Roughly 350 students are enrolled at the Career Center now, 95% of which graduate, and almost 50% of which go onto college. That’s a very strong track record of success.”
Bellingar says the CTE Center is grateful for the support it has received for the expansion project. He believes giving students a well-rounded education is a key factor in strengthening the local workforce for years to come.
“Welding, machining, and product design and development are all part of a lot of different career paths,” he said. “We’re hopeful that by having this nice facility we can help our manufacturers locally have better talent to fill the employment voids that they currently have.”
Construction is expected to wrap up in December, and staff and students should be fully moved in by the end of next school year.
Click here to learn more about the SME PRIME program.
