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Northern Michigan Career Tech Program Helps Students Build New Opportunities

For students at Wexford-Missaukee Career Technical Center (CTC), the classroom isn’t where they’re doing their best work.

The program is helping students build careers on an actual construction site.

The  CTC Class  is in the final stages of the project which is opening doors for many and providing a real hands-on experience.

We met up with CTC instructor Brad VanBuren at the construction site who told us, “every aspect of this house is basically what the students have done. I’d say basically close to 95% of the work that you see, so it’s very hands on orientated we’re out here pretty much every day”.

Brad is talking about the house that CTC’s Applied Construction Technology class is building — a house that’s almost done.

Student and construction worker Liz Metzger says that the learning the do on site can even be fun: “We’re working in the house that we’re building today. We’re actually gonna be selling it on the market, it’s been pretty fun-learning a lot of new things.” 

While building this house, CTC students have learned all types of skills form electrical to plumbing to carpentry.

Student Josh Cergnuo says his skills can help him at home too, “I can read a tape measure better, I can cut a board straighter and I actually know how to do stuff I can use around the house if my mom or my grandparents ever needed help”.

These are skills that students can use now and as Josh points out, will benefit them later too; “It’d be easier to get a job too because they’d see that you have experience at a career tech center doing this kind of stuff so you’d have more experience than a person who say doesn’t have as much experience."

Thanks to this program students are able to feel confident while taking their next step, whether that be career or college.

The home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and is expected to be on the market this Spring.

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