SUNY Adirondack in Queensbury and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES, serving the surrounding counties are partnering on a new science and technology program for high school students.
The two year program would allow high school juniors and seniors to take classes at the SUNY Adirondack campus for college credit – and to prepare for careers in manufacturing.
"We really have looked for this baseline credential to prepare a workforce in manufacturing," said Brian Dumont, vice president of academic affairs at SUNY Adirondack. He says the program, with classes in physics, technology, and electricity, will allow students to think about their careers sooner.
"It really is an exploratory program with a lot of hands on that will be a lot of opportunities for students to assess themselves and really see if this is for them or not," Dumont added.
Theresa Middleton is assistant superintendent in Queensbury, one of three high schools planning to send students to the program.
She says earning college credit while learning technical skills can be a good option.
"For some students who aren’t sure what they want to do or school isn’t really their passion, but they can see an end in sight, a good paying career, and they can see a good paying career in sight, this might really be something that really hooks them. And that was really the thinking, was to fulfill a need in our area with businesses but also to really hook students into college," said Middleton.
The program will begin next fall. SUNY Adirondack anticipates that around 18 high schoolers will participate. They are holding an open house for interested students and families on March 12.
For more from the Innovation Trail, visit their website. Reporting by the Innovation Trail is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
