‘State-of-the-art’ manufacturing equipment heading to Taconic

PITTSFIELD – New equipment and new scheduling are coming to Taconic High School’s CVTE (career vocational technical education) programs.

Thanks to Berkshire Community College, which has been using the CVTE space for some equipment and programming for eight years, Taconic will be getting a “state-of-the-art” manufacturing program.

“This will add a lot to the Taconic program that we already have,” said William D. Mulholland, BCC’s vice president of community education and workforce development.

In addition to BCC’s engineering technology program, students and teachers in Taconic’s manufacturing technology program will also be able to use the advanced manufacturing software and equipment.

“This is one more thing that solidifies our relationship with Berkshire Community College,” said Pittsfield School Committee Member Kathleen A. Amuso. “It’s nice to see this.”

A report prepared by VP Mulholland details the features of the Intellitek Blended Automated Manufacturing Technology Program, which include a learning management system, virtual and hardware content, industrial-grade equipment, simulation software and a foundational skills program.

“It has everything that we could hope for,” he said.

According to VP Mulholland, this increase in technology is to adequately train employees as they head into the workforce from an academic setting.

“The manufacturing in this country has been struggling to bring a skilled workforce to it,” he said.

BCC’s advanced manufacturing program upgrade is supported by the Massachusetts Community Colleges and Workforce Development Transformation Agenda, which is 100-percent funded through a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.

In addition to the BCC-provided equipment, teachers and administrators at Taconic also recently applied for funding through a state vocational equipment grant.

New schedule

Starting in the 2013-2014 school year, Taconic CVTE juniors and seniors will switch to a week on-week off schedule, an initiative championed by Interim Superintendent Gordon L. Noseworthy and the Pittsfield School Committee.

“The week on-week off is really an important part to the new equipment we’ll be getting,” said Dr. Noseworthy.

This scheduling format means students spend one week in their CVTE classrooms then one week in their general academic classes, as opposed to splitting daily or weekly schedules between the two settings.

Both the school committee and the school administration see this as a way of “getting the ball rolling” while they await word from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) on plans for a new or renovated Taconic.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Dr. Noseworthy said.

The administration plans to have all Taconic CVTE students (grades 9-12) on the week on-week off schedule for the 2014-2015 school year.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on April 18, 2013. Filed under Education News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry