Students countywide can earn high school and an associate degree on the way to being ready for a career in manufacturing after graduation, and Oswego County Pathways in Technology Early College High School is recruiting eighth graders.
Recruitment for this fall’s freshman class recently began, with P-TECH Principal Brian Heffron and his team planning to pitch their program to eighth graders and parents at all nine districts around Oswego County.
Foundational seeds are planted at the middle-school level since the P-TECH commitment is a five-year process, from freshman year of high school through graduation and one to two additional years.
During a recent stop at Emerson J. Dillon Middle School in Phoenix, Heffron offered enticing words for the advancement of the eighthgraders’ education: obtaining a two-year, associate degree at no cost to them or their parents. Presenting along with Heffron were students and program advocates Gage Amos, Ella Heckert and Noah Hosier.
While attending P-TECH — located at the Center for Instruction, Technology and Innovation’s main campus in Mexico — students can still receive their high-school graduation credits while simultaneously earning college credit through Onondaga Community College when they reach their junior and senior years of high school.
P-TECH was created because it’s local industry partners — Davis-Standard, Huhtamaki, Sunoco, Fulton Companies and Novelis — have a strong need for a skilled workforce. P-TECH provides advanced education for a mechanical or electrical engineering technology degree, which perfectly align with job openings at those companies.
Students who are strongly interested in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields should seriously consider P-TECH, Heffron said.
After an application process, up to 50 students will be selected for the upcoming freshman class.
For more information, visit www.citiboces.org/ptech.
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