COMMUNITY ROOTS
THE ALUMNI COLLECTIVE A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE A
GREAT FUTURES START HERE
Cole Albrecht is 26 years old, with a good-paying job he loves, no college debt and plans to buy a house.
“I definitely have a leg up,” said the Hudson Falls native, who participated in Early College Career Academy (ECCA), a partnership of SUNY Adirondack and Washington Saratoga Warren Hamilton Essex (WSWHE) BOCES. He went on to earn a degree in Advanced Manufacturing from SUNY Adirondack.
ECCA melds the practicality of trade school with the prestige of a college education.
Albrecht participated in Advanced Manufacturing, where he learned the technological skills needed to succeed in our region’s thriving industries and was introduced to career opportunities.
ECCA provides high school students the ability to earn up to 32 college credits their junior and senior years of high school, and introduces them to careers in one of four fields: Electrical Technology/ Advanced Manufacturing; Information Technology: Computer Networking and Cybersecurity; Business and Entrepreneurship; or New Media.
A second collaborative program, PTECH, starts in ninth grade. Participants in Advanced Manufacturing or Information Technology: Computer Networking and Cybersecurity earn Regents high school diplomas, college credits and industry certifications, have the opportunity to visit regional businesses, and can stay on at SUNY Adirondack to earn an associate degree — all at no cost to the students or their families.
The result is a generation of young people who are college-educated, skilled laborers, meeting the needs of regional employers and, like Albrecht, earning a comfortable living.
“We have a pretty extensive training program and we will train anybody who has an interest, but the foundation these students have is invaluable,” said Ron Richards, CEO of RASP Inc., one of several regional business leaders who meets with college and BOCES representatives to inform program curriculum. “Just the exposure they have, they’re not coming in blind; they have a great foundation so it makes it that much easier for us.”
That pathway into manufacturing is important, said Ron Stevens, manufacturing manager at Praxis Technology. “There are less and less young people getting into manufacturing, whether technicians or engineers; this program is excellent because they can figure out where they want to go,” he said.
Stevens has eight employees who participated in PTECH or ECCA programs — three full-time workers, including one who recently earned a degree from SUNY Adirondack; two who have a year left at the college; three who just graduated from high school and will work while attending SUNY Adirondack; and one who is working this summer while studying engineering at Clarkson.
“It has been a lifesaver for production that we have these programs,” Stevens said.
Partnering with BOCES on this modern implementation of trades education helps SUNY Adirondack continue to serve our region’s educational, economic and employee needs, and ensures a bright future for all of us.
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MUCH LIKE THE COLLEGE COMMUNITY, SUNY ADIRONDACK ALUMNI ARE A MICROCOSM OF OUR BROADER COMMUNITY.
They come in as students, searching, find themselves here, then bring their gifts out into the world as caring agents of change. In this quarterly magazine, we celebrate all the ways our alumni shape our world, close to home and afar, with their hearts always rooted right here at SUNY Adirondack.
SUNY Adirondack, a community college of the State University of New York, does not discriminate against any employee, applicant for employment, intern, whether paid or unpaid, contractor, student, or applicant for admission or other members of the college community (including but not limited to vendors, visitors, and guests) based on a individual’s race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender identification, gender expression, sexual orientation, self-identified or perceived sex, the status of being transgender, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, veteran status, domestic violence victim state, criminal conviction or any other category protected by law. The College adheres to all federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination and sexual harassment in public institutions of higher education.
The college prohibits conduct by any employee or any student who disrupts or interferes with another’s work performance or education experience, or who creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile work or educational environment due to discrimination based on protected status or sexual harassment. SUNY Adirondack is committed to educating employees in the recognition and prevention of workplace and education discrimination and sexual harassment, and to informing students, employees and others how to report a discrimination complaint.
Inquiries about and reports regarding this notice and procedure may be made to compliance@sunyacc.edu or to one of the following Civil Rights Compliance Coordinators/Officers: Cornelius Gilbert, Chief Diversity Officer/Title IX Coordinator, Scoville 326, gilbertc@sunyacc.edu, 518-743-2313; Mindy Wilson, Associate
Vice President of Human Resources/Payroll & Affirmative Action Officer, Washington Hall 105, wilsonm@sunyacc.edu, 518-743-2252; Diane Wildey, Associate
Vice President of Academic Affairs/Section 504 Coordinator, Scoville 324, wildeyd@sunyacc.edu, 518-743-2337. Inquiries may also be directed to the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, 32 Old Slip 26th Floor, New York, NY 10005-2500, ocr.newyork@ed.gov, 646-428-3800.
VOL. 11 | SUMMER 2023
OUR PTECH AND ECCA GRADUATES ARE …
Analysts
Business Administrators
Creative Directors
Customer Engineers
Entrepreneurs
Fabricators
Machinists
Marketers
Project Engineers
Sales Engineers
Set Designers and so much more!
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669 HIGHEST NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN THE ECCA PROGRAM AT ONCE
NINE SCHOOL DISTRICTS
PARTICIPATE IN PTECH
25,000
21 SCHOOL DISTRICTS
PARTICIPATE IN ECCA
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF COLLEGE CREDITS EARNED BY STUDENTS IN ECCA
165 STUDENTS ENROLLED IN ECCA
206 STUDENTS ENROLLED IN PTECH
75 PERCENT OF ECCA PARTICIPANTS GO ON TO ATTEND SUNY ADIRONDACK
2013 first year Advanced Manufacturing was offered as an ECCA program
2014 first year IT was offered as an ECCA program
2016 first year New Media was offered as an ECCA program
2017 first year Business and Entrepreneurship was offered as an ECCA program
900 PERCENT GROWTH IN NUMBER OF ECCA PARTICIPANTS FROM 2013 TO 2017
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“This program definitely sets you up to make a lot of connections in the workplace.”
SHAWN NORTON
HOMETOWN: HUDSON FALLS, NEW YORK
2020 GRADUATE OF PTECH IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
Analysts
2022 GRADUATE OF SUNY ADIRONDACK WITH A DEGREE IN MECHATRONICS AND A CERTIFICATE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
CURRENTLY: PURSUING A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN ACCOUNTING AND ANALYTICS FROM ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Shawn Norton grew up watching his parents run their own business and having the financial freedoms that entrepreneurship provides.
When the Hudson Falls native completed PTECH, a SUNY Adirondack and Washington Saratoga Warren Hamilton Essex (WSWHE) BOCES partnership program, and earned an associate degree in Mechatronics, he easily found work at a few of the region’s major manufacturers — and quickly realized what he doesn’t want.
“I realized I don’t want to be on the floor doing the hands-on stuff,” Norton said, “but more behind a desk, being in charge of production and marketing.”
But he doesn’t believe the years he spent at SUNY Adirondack are wasted.
Norton, who will attend his “dream school,” Rochester Institute of Technology, in the fall to study Accounting and Analytics.
“I slacked in high school a bit, but after I got my stuff together, I could submit my better grades from the past few years,” he said. “PTECH definitely upped the workload and taught me time management.”
Summer jobs at Irving and Global Foundries gave Norton valuable insight into what he learned in PTECH, where he developed friendships with his classmates and a good sense of what to expect in college.
“Mechatronics was a good stepping stone getting into college,” he said. “Looking at my class schedule, I’m like, ‘I’ve got this.’”
FUN FACT: SHAWN IS AN AVID SNOWBOARDER AND HAS WORKED AS AN INSTRUCTOR FOR FIVE YEARS. WHILE OBTAINING THREE INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATIONS, HE ALSO TOOK CLASSES IN SUNY ADIRONDACK’S OUTDOOR EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.
“It made me put my bigboy shoes on sooner, made me mature faster,” said
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“I had a lot of options in terms of colleges, but SUNY Adirondack was the most affordable and it just made sense.”
KAYLA LIVINGSTON
HOMETOWN: HARTFORD, NEW YORK
Business Administrators
2022 GRADUATE OF EARLY COLLEGE CAREER ACADEMY IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
2023 GRADUATE OF SUNY ADIRONDACK WITH A DEGREE IN LIBERAL ARTS: INDEPENDENT STUDIES
CURRENTLY: PURSUING A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN BUSINESS FROM CASTLETON UNIVERSITY
The SkillsUSA National Conference provided Kayla Livingston a lot of firsts.
“It was an amazing experience,” said Livingston, a Hartford native who earned an associate degree in Independent Studies from SUNY Adirondack in 2023, after graduating from the college’s Early College Career Academy (ECCA) program. “The energy was insane.”
After arriving in Atlanta, Georgia, a group of four SUNY Adirondack ECCA students scrambled to catch a ride to State Farm Arena to see famed rapper Flo Rida perform — Livingston’s first time using Uber and seeing a live concert.
Livingston was part of a team that attended the national Entrepreneurship Competition in June 2022 after taking first place in the state SkillsUSA competition with its plan for Lifetime Zero, a zero-waste grocery store.
“We designed a grocery store to
have no waste, no packaging,” Livingston explained. “It’s environmentally friendly, which is what we want — no more harming the environment more than we already are — and it benefits the consumer as they aren’t paying for the brand.”
The SUNY Adirondack team impressed judges and took seventh in the national competition.
That lesson started when Livingston decided to participate in ECCA, a collaboration of SUNY Adirondack and WSWHE BOCES, in which students are dually enrolled, taking courses at the college their junior and senior years of high school in one of four programs: Electrical Technology/Advanced Manufacturing; Information Technology: Computer Networking and Cybersecurity; Business and Entrepreneurship; or New Media (Graphic Design).
“Being away from the same 30-someodd people I’d known since kindergarten, meeting new friends and making new connections was a relief,” Livingston said. “The experience was life-changing.”
“SkillsUSA really opened my eyes to the fact I don’t have to be a turtle in my shell, and that I can do anything if I set my mind to it,” Livingston said.KAYLA WITH HER TEAM
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“ECCA can change your life. I’m so happy I did it. Now I get to do what I love and use all the skills I learned.”
KES OTTO-PODKLADEK
HOMETOWN: SCHUYLERVILLE, NEW YORK
2018 GRADUATE OF EARLY COLLEGE CAREER ACADEMY IN NEW MEDIA
2021 GRADUATE OF SUNY ONEONTA WITH A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN ART AND DESIGN
CURRENTLY: CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT ALYSON KELLY DESIGN
Kes Otto-Podkladek’s creativity presented a challenge: She wanted a career in art but knew making a living as a painter was difficult. So her school counselor suggested she try Early College Career Academy in New Media.
“I loved it,” gushed Otto-Podkladek, who completed the program, a collaboration of SUNY Adirondack and WSWHE BOCES. “I love technology, and I wanted to use those skills as well as my creative side.”
In ECCA classes, she learned various disciplines of graphic design, photography and videography. “It isn’t just learning how to make logos or websites; I learned how to do it all,” she said.
That vast knowledge served her well at SUNY Oneonta, where she majored in Art and Design. “I had such high-level design and art credits,” she said. “I was in a good position to help my peers.”
Otto-Podkladek was so far ahead that she had enough credits to graduate in two years, but stayed for three. “I finished my college career quickly and without a lot of debt,” she marveled.
What she learned in ECCA also extended beyond the classroom, as students had opportunities for real-life work experience — designing labels and logos, editing video and making commercials.
She graduated from SUNY Oneonta during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so jobs in graphic design were tough to secure. She worked retail for a while, then, as the grips of the shutdown loosened, she started applying to design jobs.
She was offered a position at Alyson Kelly Design, a boutique marketing agency in Buffalo. She started as a social media specialist, then worked her way through the ranks to creative director.
“Knowing website design, logo design, all those things I learned in ECCA, really helps me now,” Otto-Podkladek said. “It all plays a role in everything we do.”
Visiting SUNY Adirondack with her brother, who will start New Media through ECCA in the fall, Otto-Podkladek spoke with other students signed up for the program.
“It is so worth it, you learn so much, I told them; most of my technical skills have come from this program and I can’t speak highly enough about it,” she recounted.
“It catapulted me to an amazing career.”
Creative Directors
“ECCA gave me the opportunity to do work
for clients at the age of 16 and 17,” she said. “I knew I wanted to be a graphic designer since I was 16 years old, and getting those real-life experiences so early on helps set you ahead of the curve.”
“ECCA has given me so much.
Any parent I hear suggest it, I immediately say, ‘Yes.’ Even if a student doesn’t like it, it gives them the opportunity and choice to see what they don’t want to do. ”
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COLE ALBRECHT
HOMETOWN: HUDSON FALLS, NEW YORK
UPWARD BOUND PARTICIPANT THROUGH SUNY ADIRONDACK
Customer Engineers
2015 GRADUATE OF EARLY COLLEGE CAREER ACADEMY IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
2016 GRADUATE OF SUNY ADIRONDACK WITH A DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGY
CURRENTLY: CUSTOMER ENGINEER AT APPLIED MATERIALS
Cole Albrecht didn’t have much direction when his high school principal recommended he learn more about a new program at SUNY Adirondack.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I graduated from high school, knowing I could go to a blanket fouryear school and get in so much debt, then get a job I didn’t even like,” he said.
Even once he heard about the latest offering from Early College Career Academy, a partnership between Washington Saratoga Warren Hamilton Essex (WSWHE) BOCES and the college, he wasn’t sure.
But after his first year in the Advanced Manufacturing program, Albrecht realized the opportunity he had. “A program like that, when I was a 16- or 17-year-old kid and didn’t know what I wanted to go to school for, that program was so valuable in figuring out what I wanted to do,” said Albrecht, a Hudson Falls native.
“I always liked working with my hands,” Albrecht said. “I took a lot
of tech classes — learning basic AC/ DC voltage, making circuits on breadboards, RFID [radio frequency identification, which is used in supermarket scanners, EZPass and other such systems] — those classes were really cool and I could see examples of how the technology is used every day.”
Despite his original reluctance, Albrecht began to see the value of the program. “ECCA gave me more options and more avenues of what I might want to do by the time I graduated,” said Albrecht, who after graduating high school enrolled as an Electrical Technology student at SUNY Adirondack, where he earned an associate degree in one year.
The summer after graduating from college, Albrecht acted as a program assistant, applied for jobs at regional companies and considered going on to a bachelor’s program at SUNY Canton, SUNY Polytechnic or Rochester Institute of Technology.
When Global Foundries offered him a position, he decided to dive into a career in engineering. After five years there, he took a job as a customer engineer at Applied Materials,
where he performs corrective and preventive maintenance, and troubleshoots on machinery in his division.
When Albrecht looks back, he realizes he learned more than manufacturing. “ECCA helped me a lot, too, generating good speaking skills, writing skills, public speaking,” he said. “I don’t know where I’d be without it.”
“ECCA definitely gave me a leg up, not having a lot of debt, being fortunate enough to make a decent living,” he said.
“As much as I wanted to go back to school, I find it more beneficial working in the industry. I want to eventually buy my own house; if I want to go on a trip or vacation, I can do that; and I can save money.”FUN FACT: ACCORDING TO THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, THE NUMBER OF JOBS FOR ENGINEERS IN INDUSTRIAL SETTINGS WILL GROW 10 PERCENT BY 2031.
www.rentemgames.weebly.com 14
“ECCA helped me a ton in preparing for college.”
ELLA CROSSMAN
HOMETOWN: SOUTH GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK
2021 GRADUATE OF EARLY COLLEGE CAREER ACADEMY IN BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CURRENTLY: PURSUING A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION FROM MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY; CO-OWNER OF RENT ’EM GAMES
On a family trip to pick apples, the Crossmans’ conversation about fun outdoor games led the three children — led by Ella, the eldest — to start a business that after seven years is still successful.
“I still remember, we were driving and said, ‘What if we did this?’,” said Ella Crossman, who was in seventh grade at the time. “The deal was that my parents would give us a small loan, but we had to save all the money we earned for college; we could only reinvest in the business and otherwise couldn’t take anything out.”
That seed of an idea germinated and today Rent ’em Games has more than 25 games, tables and chairs, a hot dog machine and other rental equipment. “We’re getting bigger,” she said.
When the young entrepreneur was a junior at Glens Falls High School, she enrolled in SUNY Adirondack’s Early College Career Academy, focusing on Business and Entrepreneurship. “I like being creative and I like change; I feel like in business everything is always changing so you’re never bored, and I’m someone who can never sit still,” she said.
Despite being nervous making the change to attend half-days at the college, Crossman knew right away the program was a good fit.
“Your junior and senior years are supposed to be the best years of high school, but ECCA ended up being the best thing,” she gushed.
Crossman credits the program with teaching her to be a leader, giving her classroom experiences she wouldn’t have had in high school, allowing her to explore careers and preparing her for college.
“You are responsible for yourself,” she said. “I didn’t know what a syllabus was; I was like, ‘They don’t just put it on Google Classroom and alert you?’”
Some of what she learned even helped Rent ’em Games. “I found more efficient ways to do my books, advertising through social media and the website, knowing things people want, posting things at certain times of day …,” she rattled off.
Crossman gained some experience of her own, competing in 2021 at SkillsUSA, a competition that pits career and technical students against one another in fields that include entrepreneurship. As part of a four-person team from SUNY Adirondack, Crossman helped develop a business plan for a property management company, then present it to a panel of judges at state and national levels. The team took first in New York state and second nationally.
After graduating from high school and ECCA, Crossman headed to Monmouth University, where she is studying Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing and Management.
“Skills wise, class structure, social awareness, being able to interact with professors,” she said, “ECCA helped me a ton in preparing for college.”
Entrepreneurs
Part of what she liked about the program is professors’ experiences outside the classroom.
“It was nice that we were able to see business firsthand: It wasn’t just a teacher teaching you; it was someone teaching you who has actually gone through it.”
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“It seemed like a cool idea, being able to learn how to make things.”
CARTER RENEAU
HOMETOWN: QUEENSBURY, NEW YORK
2021 GRADUATE OF PTECH IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
2023 GRADUATE OF SUNY ADIRONDACK WITH A DEGREE IN MECHATRONICS
CURRENTLY: FABRICATOR AT GRANITE AND MARBLE WORKS
Carter Reneau would stand in his family’s garage, looking at the possibilities before diving in to make some contraption.
“I’d always put random things together,” said Reneau, who in ninth grade started PTECH, a collaboration of Washington
Saratoga Warren Hamilton Essex (WSWHE) BOCES and SUNY Adirondack that creates pathways for students interested in sought-after careers.
“They talked about PTECH as, ‘If you love to tinker with things and build, you’ll love this.’”
Once Reneau started taking classes in Advanced Manufacturing, he was hooked. “I was really intrigued by all the equipment and machines; the CNC mill, the robotic arms and all that really got me going,” he said.
After touring plants and facilities throughout the region with his class, Reneau was interested in learning more about two industries
and requested job shadowing opportunities. The first company was a bit too large, with too many people for Reneau, who said he isn’t comfortable around crowds.
“The second was Granite and Marble Works, and I’m glad I went because I am still there,” said Reneau, a fabricator at the Wilton-based manufacturer, where he worked part time while earning an associate degree in Mechatronics from SUNY Adirondack.
Fabricators
TOM BOCCHI OPERATIONS MANAGER AT GRANITE AND MARBLE WORKS
The phone call went in just after 8 a.m., but already Tom Bocchi had been called away from his desk, handling an issue on the floor at Granite and Marble Works.
“I’m 30 years into this and, walking in, I face more problems by 8 o’clock in the morning than most people have all day,” Bocchi laughed. “But when you have a plant full of equipment and people, you’re going to have problems.”
After three years at Granite and Marble, Bocchi has seen his fair share of issues, but has witnessed even more successes — particularly in developing employees — and those make the headaches worth it.
“I like the idea of sending young people out into the real world after teaching them some skills,” said Bocchi, who partners with SUNY Adirondack and WSWHE BOCES to offer job shadowing, internships and, eventually, jobs to PTECH participants. “I don’t like to just teach them how to do a job; I like to teach them to be a human being.”
“They just don’t know how to deal with 25 other personalities in a factory, or what happens if something breaks,” he said. “You can teach anybody how to do anything, except those soft skills.”
Bocchi lauds PTECH graduates’ industry know-how. “I am pretty impressed by them,” he said. “They’re teaching the kids enough that they can get into the field and pick up a trade.”
“I really enjoy being part of a production line, being able to see a project from raw material to finished product and seeing every step of the process,” Reneau said. “It’s so satisfying to throw on something rough and give it shape.”
Shawn Miller started SUNY Adirondack’s PTECH program as a quiet kid who wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.
“I went to an eighth-grade meeting, they said I’d get a free college degree in PTECH, so I signed up for it,” the Hudson Falls native said. “I figured it was worth a shot.”
He ended up discovering his passion in a computer numerical control (CNC) class. “That was the first time I found something I wouldn’t mind doing for a career,” Miller remembered. “I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’”
With that discovery came confi-
dence. “Going into class, I was a shy, timid kid and, by the time I left, I was a social butterfly,” he said, describing how students from throughout the region became friends in the program.
During his senior year of high school, Miller went to Praxis Powder Technology for a work-based learning experience.
Miller was hired to work at Praxis after graduating from high school and while attending classes to earn an Electrical Technology degree from SUNY Adirondack, then an associate degree in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies from Hudson Valley Community College.
“There is an emphasis in the program on showing you what work will be like,” Miller said of trips to regional facilities. “We
saw manufacturing sites and how they run. It was decent exposure, especially to see if you do or don’t like it; they weren’t tying us down to the manufacturing world.”
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“The idea is, even if you don’t take the year or two to earn a degree, you leave with basic skills to get a job.”
SHAWN MILLER
HOMETOWN: HUDSON FALLS, NEW YORK
2019 GRADUATE OF PTECH IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
2020 GRADUATE OF SUNY ADIRONDACK WITH A DEGREE IN ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGY
Machinists
2022 GRADUATE OF HUDSON VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE WITH AN ASSOCIATE DEGREE IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES
CURRENTLY: MACHINIST AT PRAXIS POWDER TECHNOLOGY
ECCA prepared him well. “In eighth and ninth grades, we were introduced to college courses, so we developed a feel for more independent coursework, so rather than having that Band-Aid ripped off, the work was what we were used to,” he said.
“It was a great opportunity to mature: A lot of us came in as inexperienced or unknowing kids and by the time we graduated the program, we all had a clear path.”
Some of his peers went on to engineering school — a path Miller
RON STEVENS MANUFACTURING MANAGER AT PRAXIS TECHNOLOGY
When Ron Stevens learned about PTECH, a collaboration between SUNY Adirondack and WSWHE BOCES that trains high school students in Advanced Manufacturing, he immediately reached out to instructor Gage Simpson.
“I got some information on what they were learning and about potential students to work part time,” Stevens remembered about the conversation four years ago.
The phone call was a small moment, but an important one for Stevens, the manufacturing manager at Praxis Technology, a company in Queensbury that makes titanium components for medical, aerospace, consumer and sporting goods markets.
“The PTECH students are usually easier to train because while they aren’t experts on anything, the program touches on a lot of different things and, whatever we show them, they catch on quickly,” Stevens said. “They’re better than other workers who didn’t have manufacturing experience.”
In the years since, Stevens has participated in annual discussions about the needs of regional manufacturers as part of BOCES and SUNY Adirondack’s efforts to ensure students’ education is in line with workforce demands.
considered, but put on hold for a while — but two others from his class also work at Praxis.
“As a kid, I viewed this area as desolate in terms of job opportunities,” he said. “This area is full of job opportunities.”
High among those needs for Praxis is experience with computer numerical control (CNC) machines, so the company donated a tabletop machine to the PTECH Advanced Manufacturing program. “That should help,” Stevens said.
With a staff of between 50 and 55 at Praxis, Stevens said PTECH is becoming a pipeline for hiring and that he has eight graduates working at the company.
a lifesaver
“All of the students who have been sent over here, their work ethic and getting along with everyone else, I can’t say enough about them,” Stevens said. “It’s been
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“ECCA completely shaped what I want to study and why I chose Bentley.”
AVA PIROZZOLO
HOMETOWN: GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK
Marketers
2023 GRADUATE OF EARLY COLLEGE CAREER ACADEMY IN BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CURRENTLY: PURSUING A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN BUSINESS FROM BENTLEY UNIVERSITY
Ava Pirozzolo has a clear vision for her future, and it came into focus in Early College Career Academy, a partnership of SUNY Adirondack and Washington Saratoga Warren Hamilton Essex (WSWHE) BOCES.
“I’ve always felt like I was businessminded,” said the recent Glens Falls High School graduate, who in the fall will attend Bentley University, a private business college in Massachusetts, where she will also play lacrosse. “ECCA completely shaped what I want to study and why I chose Bentley.”
Throughout her junior and senior years of high school, Pirozzolo attended half-day classes at SUNY Adirondack, earning college credits that also fulfilled high school graduation requirements. “We took general business and entrepreneurship, economics, personal finance, marketing, accounting and writing for business …,” she rattled off.
ECCA also gave Pirozzolo an opportunity to intern at black dog DESIGNS. “That was so helpful,” she said. “I gained insight into what it’s like to work for a business, and now I want to have a minor in marketing.”
But perhaps the highlight of her time in ECCA was participating in SkillsUSA, state- and national-level competitions in which middle-school, high-school and college/postsecondary students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations face off.
Competing in the entrepreneurship category, Pirozzolo and her teammates developed a 35-page business plan for Breezy Energy, a concept that places wind turbines on highway medians so that as cars drive past, additional renewable energy is created. The team won a gold medal at the state level.
The lessons learned throughout the plan’s development are invaluable,
Pirozzolo said. “A big part of the program is projects, collaboration and public speaking, and we were doing that on a weekly basis.”
Next year, Pirozzolo’s younger brother will participate in ECCA, and she’s thrilled.
“I think when kids don’t know what they want to do, ECCA is great because you can use the skills anywhere,” she said. “The classes were challenging and it was definitely more work, but it was more enjoyable than high school because the classes were applicable and never just busy work.”FUN FACT: AVA PIROZZOLO AND HER TEAMMATES EARNED A FIFTH-PLACE FINISH AT THE NATIONAL SKILLSUSA COMPETITION.
Grace Valla is so used to being one of the youngest people in the room, she hardly notices anymore that she’s one of the only women.
“Being a girl and being very young in the field puts me as a minority, but I don’t think it has hindered me at all,” said Valla, who attended PTECH (Pathways in Technology Early College
High School) at SUNY Adirondack through WSWHE BOCES while in high school, then finished earning an associate degree in Advanced Manufacturing at the college in 2022. “As long as you have the skills to back up, no one questions your age or gender.”
Even if Valla shrugs off being seen as a groundbreaker, others are taking notice, as Valla was invited to serve as a panelist at Women in the Trades, an
event hosted by Early College Career Academy.
“It was a wonderful experience,” said Valla of South Glens Falls. “Five other women from various industries and I spoke, explained how we got here and struggles we had, hoping to inspire the next generation of girls.”
Even as a high school student in PTECH among mostly young men, Valla wasn’t
“Being a girl and being very young in the field puts me as a minority, but I don’t think it has hindered me at all.”
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GRACE VALLA
HOMETOWN: SOUTH GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK
2021 GRADUATE OF PTECH IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
Project Engineers
2022 GRADUATE OF SUNY ADIRONDACK, WITH A DEGREE IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
CURRENTLY: PROJECT/PROCESS ENGINEER AT EPIMED IN JOHNSTOWN
preoccupied by being in the minority; she instead focused on learning all she could.
“All the classes, combined with the hands-on experience, really teach you what you like and what you don’t like, and gave me a sense of ‘I would enjoy this’ when I was looking for a job,” she said. “The program touches on so many different things that even if I didn’t feel like they were important at
PARENT PERSPECTIVE
When Heather Hogan O’Connor learned about SUNY Adirondack’s Early College Career Academy (ECCA) New Media program, she encouraged her son to apply.
The Glens Falls mother recognized that her son, Michael “Mick” O’Connor, always had an eye for the aesthetic and a command of language so she urged him to participate in the program to see if he would enjoy the coursework and continue to study it beyond high school.
ECCA is a collaboration of SUNY Adirondack and Washington Saratoga
Warren Hamilton Essex (WSWHE)
BOCES in which high school juniors and seniors spend half-days at SUNY Adirondack, earning college credits
the time, it gave me a leg to stand on when someone at work needs someone to go to, I at least have a basic knowledge.”
After graduating high school, Valla attended one year at SUNY Adirondack — paid for through the program, so she has no college debt — to finish earning an associate degree. She thinks she might be interested in earning a bachelor’s degree at some point, but
right now, she loves her job and enjoys exploring the field of engineering.
HEATHER HOGAN O’CONNOR
DIRECTOR OF CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AT GLENS FALLS HOSPITAL; MOTHER OF EARLY COLLEGE CAREER ACADEMY PARTICIPANTand completing academic requirements to earn a Regents diploma.
Students can explore areas that might not have otherwise been available to them while learning relevant skills and challenging themselves with college-level coursework.
In ECCA, Mick O’Connor learned how communication strategies are developed, obtained certifications in Adobe’s Creative Suite and earned 33 college credits.
academic training,” Hogan O’Connor said.
“Mick grew from taking Freshmen Writing, learned about the expectations and communication protocols of his professors, was able to retain a presence at his home high school and gained new friends from other area schools.”
Hogan O’Connor said whether her son ends up working globally, or aspires to develop strategies for advertising or political campaigns, she is delighted he was given the tools to express his thoughts visually and hone his writing skills.
“All of it fostered growth and, in the end, will serve him well in the next phase of his educational journey,” she said.
“The ECCA program offers a great change in tempo in the latter part of a student’s high school career, encourages discovery and diversifies
“PTECH prepared me for this job more than I could have ever imagined,” she said. “The program absolutely changed my life.”
“I
“The program helped me a ton. I grew as an individual, I learned to stay motivated and work hard and, the best part was, it was free.”
Jonathan Luse spends his days problem solving, and loves every minute of it.
love the creative aspect of it,” said Luse, a sales engineer at Scott System.
“In every project lies a challenge, an opportunity to solve a problem by building an effective solution with cost in 24
mind. Larger projects combine process engineering, product design and sales, keeping work fresh and interesting.”
JONATHAN LUSE
HOMETOWN: SARATOGA, NEW YORK
Sales Engineers
2017 GRADUATE OF EARLY COLLEGE CAREER ACADEMY IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
2020 GRADUATE OF SUNY CANTON WITH A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
CURRENTLY: SALES ENGINEER AT SCOTT SYSTEM, A SUBSIDIARY OF FORT MILLER GROUP
Luse always loved hands-on learning, but wasn’t sure where that would lead him, until a high school counselor recommended SUNY Adirondack and WSWHE BOCES’ Early College Career Academy program in Advanced Manufacturing.
“I definitely like the handson aspect,” Luse said. “I can learn something in a textbook, then apply it hands on to make the connection between theory and reality.”
Starting in 11th grade, Luse spent half-days on the SUNY Adirondack campus, taking college-level classes that fulfilled requirements for high school and a college degree. “The classes were more suited to what I wanted to do; I really wanted to learn what was in those classes, as opposed to a less-focused curriculum.”
What he learned allowed him to have a summer job at Ball Corporation, a job shadow experience at Quad Graphics
and an internship at GE Research.
“That certainly helped give me a good understanding of the local industries, so when I got out of school, I knew the companies that were a good fit,” Luse said.
After graduating high school and ECCA, Luse enrolled at SUNY Canton, where all his credits transferred toward a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
“ECCA really helped prepare me,” he said. “Intro to Engineering nearly mirrored the curriculum, so those classes were really easy for me.”
Luse had enough college credits to graduate from SUNY Canton a year early, then applied for two jobs, both of which he was offered.
“I chose Fort Miller, knowing them from the ECCA program, so I knew who they were and what they’re all about,” he said.
MARY ANN SPIEZIO VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AT THE FORT MILLER GROUPMary Ann Spiezio knows how to wow a group of high school students.
“We build concrete products for heavy highway applications that can sometimes take two 50-ton cranes to move,” said Spiezio, vice president of Human Resources at The Fort Miller Group, which includes Tymetal, Fort Miller Co. Precast, Access Anvil and Scott System. “Students are impressed when they see the scope and variety of work done at our facility.”
Spiezio leads tours of participants in SUNY Adirondack and WSWHE BOCES’ PTECH and Early College Career Academy (ECCA) programs, and partners with leadership to help inform curriculum development.
“It’s really important for young people to see opportunities out there and, if nothing else, rule out the things they’re not interested in,” Spiezio said.
The Fort Miller Group also offers internships and job shadows to students in the programs and has hired several graduates.
“They have a nice foundation,” she said. “You can be an engineer, a maintenance technician, tech sales — you have a lot of avenues available to you; you can go so many places with it.”
Introducing students to avenues of employment is important, she said. “Regular high school curriculum doesn’t do a good job talking about career opportunities; helping students explore career options is something we’re passionate about.”
FUN FACT: IN 2021, MEDIAN ANNUAL PAY FOR SALES ENGINEERS WAS $103,710, ACCORDING TO THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
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“I made things I never thought I was capable of and I really took away that anything is possible.”
JAELYN CUTRIGHT
HOMETOWN: CORINTH, NEW YORK
2023 GRADUATE OF EARLY COLLEGE CAREER ACADEMY IN NEW MEDIA
Set Designers
2023 GRADUATE OF SUNY ADIRONDACK WITH A DEGREE IN LIBERAL ARTS: INDEPENDENT STUDIES
CURRENTLY: PURSUING BACHELOR’S DEGREES IN INTERACTION DESIGN AND THEATER FROM SUNY OSWEGO
Jaelyn Cutright had a busy few weeks, earning an associate degree summa cum laude, a high school diploma and graduating from Early College Career Academy (ECCA) in New Media — all while working, dancing and pursuing her love of theater.
“It was definitely a lot of work,” admitted the recent Corinth High School graduate, who in addition to taking high school honors classes and college classes to complete ECCA, took courses online through SUNY Adirondack to earn a Liberal Arts: Independent Studies associate degree and was accepted into Phi Theta Kappa honor society. “But after a while I got more used to it, got in a flow, a rhythm, to get the work done.”
Cutright grew up dancing and performing onstage, and always envisioned being a Broadway star. The COVID-19 pandemic brought those dreams to a halt. “A bunch of actors I follow [on social media] were out of work and had to turn to other means of getting money,” she said. “So I thought, ‘Maybe that’s not the best field because it can be so unpredictable.’”
When she heard about ECCA — a collaboration between SUNY Adirondack and Washington Saratoga
Warren Hamilton and Essex (WSWHE) BOCES that blends credited college coursework and career/technical
education — she jumped at the opportunity.
“In high school, I was doing music and art and my school couldn’t give me choices for both,” Cutright said. “I saw that in the New Media program, I could have art classes, which spiraled and now I draw every single day and really found my passion in art.”
She said she always liked to draw, but that ECCA opened her eyes to her potential. “I was getting really good grades, and the teachers were pushing me to make my work better,” she said. “I never saw drawing as a career until I joined ECCA.”
A touring production of “Mean Girls” at Proctors made that pathway clear. “The entire set is screens and I thought, ‘This is what I want to do — interaction design.’”
In the thriving field, designers create relationships between people and the products and services they use. Cutright cited “The World of Avatar” experience at Disney World as the pinnacle of interactive design.
Her ECCA class visited Adirondack Studios in Argyle, a company that provides creative solutions for the entertainment market and has collaborated on projects including sets for world-renowned theaters and experiences at the most prominent theme parks in the world.
Before she draws those plans in Sharpie, she will attend SUNY Oswego.
“The instructors really guided us to those possibilities,” she said of the ECCA program. “I made things I never thought I was capable of and I really took away that anything is possible.”
“I talked to the people there and they said, ‘Because you’re in this program, you could have the opportunity to work here,’” she said. “Art was just a fun thing I did at night when I listened to music, but now I have a foundation and an idea what I want to do and how I want to impact the world with my art.”
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“Advanced Manufacturing is very broad and flexible.”
GAGE SIMPSON
2004 GRADUATE OF PURDUE UNIVERSITY WITH A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN MATERIALS SCIENCE ENGINEERING
2007 GRADUATE OF EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY WITH A MASTER’S DEGREE IN TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT
CURRENTLY: ADVANCED MANUFACTURING INSTRUCTOR AT WASHINGTON SARATOGA WARREN HAMILTON ESSEX (WSWHE) BOCES
When Gage Simpson started his first job after college at Lockheed Martin, he heard co-workers referring to “mils” and assumed they meant millimeters.
He earned an engineering degree from Purdue University and thought he was ready to dive into the field.
Turns out, though, “mil” is manufacturing speak for a thousandth of an inch — one of several discrepancies between a metric-based world of academia and use of imperial measurements on the manufacturing floor.
“I was disappointed the engineering degree didn’t prepare us for the world of manufacturing,” lamented Simpson, an instructor in the Early College Career Academy and PTECH programs offered by SUNY Adirondack and Washington Saratoga Warren Hamilton Essex (WSWHE) BOCES. “If I’m not speaking the language and I’m designing a fighter jet, I’m not using the right calculations. I don’t want anybody else to go through that, so I work to make sure our students are prepared for real-world, hands-on work environments.”
After a few years at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility, Simpson transferred to Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, where he trained sailors how to operate nuclear reactors.
“The times I got to actually interact and train, I really enjoyed that part of the job, teaching the 19- and 20-year-old
Navy students,” Simpson said. “I got more satisfaction out of that than being an engineer.”
So when WSWHE BOCES posted a position for a mechanical instructor, Simpson applied.
In the nearly decade since, Simpson has been instrumental in developing Early College Career Academy and PTECH, programs that provide high school students pathways to in-demand career fields.
need to thrive at regional industries. Those companies also offer tours, job shadow opportunities, internships and apprenticeships to Advanced Manufacturing students, and jobs to alumni.
“Advanced Manufacturing is very broad and flexible,” Simpson said. “We can cater what the kids are learning to their strengths. We can’t teach them specific details of every manufacturing process, so we teach them a broad overview, then the areas they are really interested in, those are the employers we line them up with.”
As important as teaching students about manufacturing and industry, Simpson said he wants to inspire them to be lifelong learners. “We’re really trying to get everyone to find their interests and continue to learn,” he said.
The PTECH program — which is free to students and families — includes an opportunity to earn a degree in Mechatronics from SUNY Adirondack. “Most of the students continue to finish their degree,” Simpson said. “We have about 15 percent who don’t continue, and they usually go to engineering school.”
With between 35 and 40 students a year, the impact of the Advanced Manufacturing program is substantial. Simpson partners with Praxis, The Fort Miller Group, Irving Tissue, RASP, Global Foundries, GE Aviation, Granite and Marble Works, ESPEY and Knolls Atomic Power Lab, among others, to ensure participants are learning the skills they
Simpson said programs like PTECH and ECCA are the solution to the college tuition crisis in the United States.
“Students can get college credits going toward a degree pathway while still in high school, then that drastically reduces the amount of credits you have left to finish a degree, so you are not going to be paying as much money,” he said.
Instructors
“This is important,” Simpson said. “I really believe in BOCES and the skills these kids learn. The first day they walk into any facility, they will already speak the language, know how to follow safety procedures and troubleshoot issues, or at least know how to find the owners manual and get it done.”
RON RICHARDS
Ron Richards entered into a partnership with WSWHE BOCES and SUNY Adirondack thinking he would contribute to the region’s greater economic well-being.
“In the beginning, we were giving input, helping to structure the classes to better fit the industry,” said Richards, CEO of RASP, a company that develops, implements and services industrial control projects. “But as students started graduating, it started helping companies because we were getting students who were very well trained.”
Richards studied electronics at BOCES in the mid-’80s, went to college and served in the U.S. Air Force before starting RASP in 1995. After leaving the
Air Force, he returned to a job at the company where he worked after high school.
“I was designing electrical and programming control systems, but they started to have a downturn,” Richards remembered. “Things were slow and companies around the area were calling me asking for help; I was helping as much as I could, but then one day I decided there’s a big need and that I was going to start my own company.”
What started in his garage has evolved to a company that employs 35, some of whom are graduates of SUNY Adirondack and WSWHE BOCES’ PTECH and Early College Career Academy programs.
RASP offers internships and summer positions to students, especially those
in PTECH’s Advanced Manufacturing. “We help see if it’s a career they like,” he said. “We hire people who complete the program. Some stay, others move on to careers more fitting for them or for different careers all together.”
“They don’t have to be fully versed in what we do, but they’ve heard the terminology, they’ve been exposed to the projects, they know how to troubleshoot. They’re not coming in blind; they have a great foundation.”
“We have a pretty extensive training program and will train anybody who has an interest, but the foundation these students have is invaluable,” Richards said.
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CEO OF RASP INC., AN INDUSTRIAL CONTROLS & AUTOMATION COMPANY
FROM THE PRESIDENT
That statement sounds melodramatic, but
PTECH or Early College Career Academy (ECCA), partnerships between SUNY Adirondack and Washington
While many students love the path they pursue — the four-year PTECH program offers Advanced Manufacturing and Information Technology: Computer Networking and Cybersecurity; the two-year ECCA program offers Advanced Manufacturing; Information Technology: Computer Networking and Cybersecurity; Business and Entrepreneurship; and New Media — and transfer the credits they earn to a degree program, others discover what they thought was their dream career isn’t what they hoped.
“It’s really important for young people to see the opportunities out there and — if nothing else — rule out the things they’re not interested in,” said Mary Ann Spiezio, vice president of Human Resources at The Fort Miller Group, one of several regional companies that works closely with PTECH and ECCA, offering students tours, job shadow opportunities and internships.
For many students, the dual enrollment experience is transformative.
Kayla Livingston of Hartford signed up for ECCA’s Business Administration program. The self-described “turtle in a shell” thrived, and participated in Skills USA, a national competition that pits high school students against their peers.
“SkillsUSA really opened my eyes to the fact … that I can do anything if I set my mind to it,” she said.
For students from small schools, especially, the programs are invaluable in broadening their world views.
“Being away from the same 30-some-odd people I’d known since kindergarten, meeting new friends and making new connections was a relief,” said Livingston, who is heading to Castleton University in the fall to earn a bachelor’s degree.
We are grateful for our community business partners who inform curriculum in the programs, allowing us to introduce high school students to some of the area’s many career paths, and for BOCES, which collaborates to help us provide incomparable job skills training that lead to meaningful careers and drive economic growth regionally.
“The experience was life changing,” Livingston said.
As a lifelong educator, there is no greater compliment.
Sincerely,
Kristine D. Duffy, Ed.D. PresidentAt SUNY Adirondack, we receive a lot of positive feedback, but the greatest I have heard is, “This program changed my child’s life.”
I hear it regularly from parents whose children participate in
Saratoga Warren Hamilton Essex (WSWHE) BOCES.
The programs allow high school students to complete requirements for a Regents diploma while exploring career paths by taking college-level courses. For some students, the programs provide hands-on experience to secure a job after completing their education. Others pursue a passion and use the program as a creative outlet.
GREAT FUTURES START HERE. FIND EVERYTHING YOU NEED AT SUNY ADIRONDACK.
Learn more at www.sunyacc.edu/admissions
SUNYACC.EDU @sunyadk #sunyadk
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