Voters approved a 20-year tax in November to help pay for the new facility.
Shook Construction is working with the design firm Levin Porter Architects to create a facility that will be versatile and flexible as the curriculum changes over time, according to Shook Construction representative Matt Huelsman.
TRENDING: For Dayton area veterans, food insecurity still poses issue
Huelsman said over the past 10 years his company has been involved with close to $1 billion worth of new school construction, and “this one is unique.”
“It’s focused on aerospace. The design itself is going to be so flexible, which is important to a career center because they need to change their programs as the needs of the community changes and the needs of industry change,” Huelsman said.
Interest among parents and students is increasing, and so is enrollement, according to Career Center Superintendent Dave Deskins.
In the past four years, on-campus enrollment has increased by nearly 200 students, and students taking courses as part of satelite programs in the county’s seven public school districts has risen by more than 1,000 students.
Deskins credits the enrollment to increased awareness among parents of the costs for college and what kind of pay students can expect to earn after graduation.
“One of the things we see a lot are students that go off to college a year or two in they can’t complete, they come back home, they have some college debt but no real training for a future,” Deskins said. “Students who choose career pathways still have the opportunities to go on and further their education. The difference is they have a means by which they can help pay for that.”
Eighth-graders from Fairborn recently visited the career center and toured the existing building on West Enon Road near Fairborn. Career Center Curriculum Specialist Brett Doudican said when the students hear about the information technology programs and the aerospace program that’s being developed, “their eyes just lit up.”
STAY CONNECTED: Greene County News on Facebook
“Those will be the students that will be in their second year of our opening,” Doudican said.
To learn more about the career center’s programs and future offerings, you can attend an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 17 at the current facility at 2960 W. Enon Road.
About the Author