After nearly three decades in education and eight years in the U.S. Navy, Adams County Technical Institute Executive Director Shawn Eckenrode is retiring, leaving behind a career defined by his successful efforts to expand career and technical education opportunities for Adams County students.
The Adams County Technical Institute (ACTI), currently located on the Gettysburg High School campus, offers courses in Allied Health, Building Trades, Computer Networking, Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts, Diesel Mechanics, and Early Learning Education. Eckenrode said the institute’s next major goal is the construction of a permanent countywide technical school.
The long-range plan centers on a proposed new campus on a 67-acre property at 5298 York Road near New Oxford, which remains under contract pending approvals and due diligence. The institute envisions a 142,000-square-foot facility housing 14 career and technical education programs. A feasibility study estimated construction costs at approximately $63 million, with another $7 million needed for equipment and related expenses, bringing the total project cost to about $70 million. ACTI has a contract to purchase the property for $1.7 million, with $200,000 earmarked for the institute’s endowment managed by the Adams County Community Foundation.
Eckenrode said participating school districts have indicated they could support a project of roughly $30 million, leaving a funding gap of $30 to $40 million that would likely need to be filled through grants, donations, and business partnerships. The new facility will serve students from, and be funded in part by, the Gettysburg, Bermudian Springs, Conewago Valley, Fairfield, and Littlestown school districts. Upper Adams students will continue to attend the Cumberland Perry Area Career and Technical Center.
The expansion will significantly broaden ACTI’s offerings, with new programs under consideration including Automotive Technology, Welding, HVAC, Advanced Manufacturing, Automotive Collision Repair, and agriculture-related programs. Eckenrode noted that all future programs would require support from local industry advisory committees and approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Eckenrode’s path to education began as a student in the electronics program at the Franklin County Career and Technology Center. The experience led directly to a job before graduation and later inspired a teaching career after he served in the Navy’s nuclear power program, where he gained experience as an instructor. He returned to Franklin County to teach electronics and spent about 20 years in the classroom before moving into administration.
Eckenrode arrived in Adams County in 2018 as director of career and technical education for the Gettysburg Area School District. At the time, Gettysburg operated technical programs that accepted students from several districts. Eckenrode helped guide discussions that ultimately led to the creation of the independent Adams County Technical Institute (ACTI), which officially began operating on July 1, 2020.
The work was driven in part by a realization Eckenrode had years earlier while teaching in Franklin County. One of his students, a Gettysburg resident, told him he had to leave his home county to attend a technical school because Adams County did not have one of its own. The conversation stayed with him and helped shape his professional goals.
“That experience is what prompted me to want to be a director,” Eckenrode said. “I wanted to do what I could to bring career and technical education to the kids in Adams County.”
The project grew out of a feasibility study that examined workforce needs and future employment projections throughout the region. Eckenrode said Adams County remains one of the few Pennsylvania counties that never developed a comprehensive countywide technical school decades ago.
“In my opinion, our kids in Adams County have not had the same opportunities in career and technical education as most of the other kids in the state,” he said.
Currently, about half of ACTI graduates enter the workforce immediately after high school while the other half continue their education. Eckenrode rejects the idea that career and technical education limits future options, arguing that technical training often strengthens students’ college and career prospects.
As he prepares for retirement, Eckenrode said the mission remains larger than any one person.
Career and technical education, he said, strengthens communities by preparing students for well-paying jobs, supporting local industries, and helping young people build careers close to home. He views the work not simply as education, but as an investment in the county’s future.
Dr. Tony Payne, currently ACTI’s administrative director, will succeed Eckenrode as ACTI Executive Director.
