By Julieta Booz, Candidate for Gettysburg Area School District School Director
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with Adams County Technical Institute (ACTI) Administrative Director Mr. Shawn Eckenrode. He took time from his busy schedule to answer my questions about the establishment of ACTI, the future vision for ACTI, and give me a tour of the school.
During my visit, I could see that the teachers at ACTI are committed to the school and the success of their students. I was extremely impressed with ACTI’s ability to leverage state and federal grants to outfit the classrooms, work with partner businesses to provide job opportunities for the students, and obtain additional training equipment. Teaming with Habitat for Humanity gives the Building Trades students firsthand construction experience while contributing to our community. The ACTI students get to explore and determine if the career field is right for them, and they graduate with the necessary certifications that allow them to go directly into the area workforce. Those students who decide to go on to higher education now have firsthand experience associated with their advanced courses.
Currently ACTI does not have the space to accept all the students that want to enroll from the participating school districts. Soon ACTI will be meeting with area school districts to discuss and initiate the next steps to expand the current program by procuring the land and building a facility that will more than double the student enrollment. The expansion will allow the program to add advanced manufacturing, agriculture mechanics, automotive collision repair, automotive technology, HVAC, and welding.
I want to publicly thank Mr. Eckenrode for the excellent meeting and all he has done for ACTI to date. ACTI is clearly an important resource for our area. Continued investment in this program will allow our students to become the successful adults we need in our community.