BizEDUCATION
Pathway to Success Pima JTED Fills Vocational Skills Void By Larry Copenhaver It was in November 2006 when voters approved Proposition 400, a measure to plunk down a new taxpayer-funded education authority with boundaries essentially congruent to the borders of Pima County. The main idea was to fill the vacuum created when vocational education was deleted from high school curriculums as traditional schools placed an increasingly greater emphasis on college programs. The authority – Pima County Joint Technological Education District, or Pima JTED – exclusively serves some 14,000 high school students in 13 school districts. Member schools get financial support and access to a myriad of Pima JTED vocational programs – from agricultural science to healthcare foundations, graphic communications, mining technologies and more. The programs are popular among students, said 19-year-old Nathan Aho. “I was in the Fire Service Program, the EMT program, and they invited me back to help with the second-year EMT program as a student instructor,” Aho said. “Otherwise, I’m a wildland firefighter.” Because of the Pima JTED experience, Aho is on his way to a fulfilling career, said Ann Powers, a Pima JTED representative. “Certified firefighters can earn $50,000 or more annually,” she said. Aho said he’s got a ways to go before he makes that much, but he figures his schooling and hard work laid the foundation for a great job. “I’m not at the hotshot level,” he said. “Those are the top-notch guys, and I would never put myself at that level yet. But I live in Sonoita, and I work for the Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department.” He commutes from his Sonoita 102 BizTucson
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home, some 60 or 70 miles, to the main JTED campus near North Shannon and West River Roads where he exercises his student instructor duties, he said. “JTED is a wonderful program,” Aho said. “It gives high school students a chance to figure out what they want to do as a career and gives them a little push into that career. Honestly, the JTED instructors are great, and they really care about the students. They really want you to pass.” Aho, who attended Cienega High School, heard about the program through his counselor and brochures, which he said was good fortunate for him. “I would definitely not be as skilled as I am right now, and I wouldn’t be as far along as I am right now, job-wise.” Pima JTED’s Aviation Technology program through Pima Community College’s Aviation Center also gets a lot of attention from high school students. The instruction is designed to earn students certification as airframe and power plant mechanics, said Greg D’Anna, Pima JTED’s public relations director.
Programs offered by Pima JTED Agricultural science Automotive technology Aviation technology Nursing assistant/caregiver Cosmetology Culinary arts Early childhood education Fire service Graphic communications Healthcare foundations Law, public safety and security Medical assistant Mining technology Multimedia technology Precision manufacturing Project SEARCH
“We don’t focus on the training of pilots …but this program is not a bad pathway if someone wants to become a pilot,” he said. “Students master the workings of an aircraft, so if they want to be a pilot they have the background. Certainly we have students whose ultimate goal is to become a recreational pilot flying their personal planes during their leisure.” A major JTED success story in the aviation program is Victoria Codona, who said she didn’t have a plan for life, but when she learned about the aviation program she latched onto it because it was exactly what she wanted to do, D’Anna said. She recently completed her airframe and power plant certifications and was hired by Bombardier. At such jobs, students can expect to earn between $35,000 and $40,000 annually. Just like many vocations that do not require a college degree, aircraft mechanics are in demand, D’Anna said. “Bombardier is hiring,” he said. “They are telling us they need aircraft mechanics with airframe and power plant certifications. Pima JTED students are able to train on real aircraft, including a bevy of single- and twin-engine jobs, as well as a donated Boeing 727, which I have learned from Pima is the gold standard to train aircraft mechanics on.” Then there is the medical assistant program, headed by Carla Lopez, a medical professional with more than two decades dealing with patients. She has high standards and expects the same from her students, D’Anna said. “These students in the medical assistant program can make $30,000 a year right out of high school.” he said. From the first cohort of 20 students, all were placed in externships, and of continued on page 104 >>> www.BizTucson.com