Apr 22, 2006 By James Pletcher Jr. 3 min read

Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School is not “the same old, same old vo-tech school you may have heard about before,’ its executive director told a group of local businessmen. “We need to serve the community and care for the needs of employers,’ Ed Jeffries, vo-tech school executive director said.

He added that parents and children need to learn that it isn’t necessary to get a four-year college degree to make a good living.

Jeffries spoke following Fay-Penn Economic Development Council’s tour of its business and technology parks and sites on Friday. Fay-Penn used the vo-tech school as its base of operations.

Jeffries, speaking to about 40 Fay-Penn board members, explained how the school will accomplish its mission over the next decade. But first he talked about the school’s history and operation.

“The school was opened in 1964. It’s a 95,000-square-foot building and we have 42 acres of land here. Sending school districts (those who students use the school) are Albert Gallatin, Brownsville, Laurel Highlands and Uniontown.

“Our budget last year was $3.5 million. The boards (members of each of the schools make up one vo-tech board) are very positive and active in the operation here,’ Jeffries said.

Providing a good mix of curriculums for the 290 students attending the school this semester is vital, he said.

“We have identified job areas including nano-technology, mining, biomedical, retail management, engineering and biometrics.

“We are involved in a reinvention of our school. We want to have an image change and we are deciding how to market and recruit for the school.’

Part of that marketing, which, Jeffries said, will reach students earlier in the fifth grade, includes helping parents and children learn what career opportunities are available to them in job growth areas.

“Kids have to hear about this in a regular and concise way.’

Leo T. Krantz, Fay-Penn board chairman, said that young people can go to colleges such as Penn State and West Virginia University and get two-year degrees in growth areas “and by the time they are in their 20s, they can be making $40,000 to $45,000 a year. Why don’t students know this?’

Jeffries said the vo-tech’s mission will include getting that information out.

In its image makeover, the vo-tech, Jeffries said, will change its name, review its shops, become more involved in teacher development, distance learning and high-priority jobs.

For example, the school recently restored its heat, air-conditioning and ventilation program.

Jeffries also announced that this week he learned the Federal Aviation Administration has approved the school to become one of its training sites. “We hope we can start that program by July,’ Jeffries said.

“We are offering reading and math classes, more for remediation,’ to overcome lower-than-average reading and math levels in some of the area’s students, he added.

“We are going to start a high-tech program at the vo-tech. We will offer nano-technology next year and introduce students to biometric at the seventh- and ninth-grade levels. These are careers in math and science and we will use instructors from Penn State and West Virginia University as well as our own,’ Jeffries said.

Changing attitudes and reviewing its polices also are part of the mission, Jeffries said.