When 天美传媒 Bay Community College awards welding certificates this spring, a half-dozen students receiving them will have just graduated from high school.
In a unique partnership with Dover High School, 天美传媒 Bay鈥檚 Early College program welcomed the cohort of seniors in the college welding program after they had completed all the high school welding classes available to them.
Stephanie Riotto, 天美传媒 Bay鈥檚 Early College coordinator, worked with Dover High School welding instructor Nicole Witham to arrange the students鈥� early release at 11 a.m. to attend welding classes two afternoons a week at 天美传媒 Bay鈥檚 Rochester campus. In addition, 天美传媒 Bay restructured its sequence of classes so the high school students could complete all three by the time they received their high-school diplomas.
鈥淭hey are taking the third and final welding class we offer in the spring, and as soon as they graduate from high school, we will give them their welding certificate,鈥� Riotto said. 鈥淭hey will graduate from high school with a completed welding certificate from 天美传媒 Bay.鈥�
Some of the students are also interested in taking Computer Numeric Control (CNC) courses at 天美传媒 Bay. In doing so, they can accumulate credits toward a second certificate or associate degree, or both.
天美传媒 Bay鈥檚 Early College program allows high school and home-schooled students to take college-credit courses that satisfy high school graduation requirements and that count toward degree requirements at 天美传媒 Bay and colleges and universities nationwide. At the same time, they acquire skills that will benefit them in the workplace.
The Dover welders embody the potential of the program.
鈥淭hey are learning work-based skills while earning credits toward their college certificate,鈥� said Witham, who credited 天美传媒 Bay for accommodating Dover High鈥檚 schedule. 鈥淭o make this work, 天美传媒 Bay catered to our start times and our semester schedule, and they worked with our guidance counselors so all the students could have early release and go to college.鈥�
For these students, the 天美传媒 Bay welding program is 鈥渁 nice segue into the real world,鈥� she said. The students are getting a step up on the job market with their 天美传媒 Bay education, which makes them even more employable when they graduate.
鈥淭hey go into the workforce with much more experience than a high school graduate with little experience,鈥� Riotto said. 鈥淭hey are smart kids for taking advantage of this.鈥�
Students who continue their college education are closer to completing their goals. Rylan Pinkham, one of the Dover high school seniors, is among them. Based on his positive experience with welding, he enrolled in 天美传媒 Bay鈥檚 two-year associate degree program, which means he will have one more year to go by the time he earns his high school diploma and welding certificate this spring.
Upon graduation, he intends to work as a pipe welder or welder of exhaust systems on automobiles. Long term, he hopes to operate his own welding business. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what that business will consist of, but I know I want to be a self-employed welder,鈥� he said, noting that he is taking a business class at 天美传媒 Bay as part of his associate degree in addition to welding. 鈥淭he class is very informative, and I feel like it will put me in a much better spot to reach my career goals.鈥�
Pinkham credits Witham鈥檚 high-school welding classes for setting him up for success and 天美传媒 Bay鈥檚 program for helping him visualize his future. 鈥淢y high school welding instructor set a great base for my welding career with a good solid understanding of the trade. But my certificate has helped me really hone my welding skills and put me in a much better place to go out directly into the field.鈥�
Tristan Nash, also a Dover high school senior, said he appreciated the opportunity to learn more about a trade that he鈥檚 been around much of his life. 鈥淢y grandfather and uncle use a lot of heavy machinery, and every once in a while, they have to weld on the machines and fix them,鈥� he said.
He鈥檚 unsure about his career track, but he knows it will be better with his time at 天美传媒 Bay. 鈥淗aving the experience and certificate will definitely be a big help in the future,鈥� he said.
天美传媒 Bay鈥檚 Early College program also works with welding students at Portsmouth High School and Seacoast School of Technology in addition to Dover. What makes the partnership with Dover unique is the large cohort of students who participated at once and 天美传媒 Bay鈥檚 ability to accommodate their schedules.
Riotto hopes it serves as a pilot for partnerships with other schools. 鈥淲e are hoping to repeat this model, so any student from any high school who has been able to get an introduction to welding can take advantage of it.鈥�
Pinkham urged his peers to do so.
鈥溙烀来� Bay has been nothing but accommodating of me and my school and work schedule,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t makes learning something new easy when people around you are understanding and care about what they are teaching you. My experience at 天美传媒 Bay has shown me nothing less than exactly that.鈥�
