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Pictured: Troy Simpson, Director of Advanced Manufacturing, Danville Community College; Rebecca Roberts, Assistant Principal of the Pittsylvania Career and Technical Center; Angela Rigney, Principal of the Pittsylvania Career and Technical Center and Director of Career, Technical and Adult Education; Justin Owen, Precision Machining Instructor; Dr. Mark Jones, Superintendent of Pittsylvania County Schools; Dr. Steven Staples, Superintendent of Public Instruction with the Virginia Department of Education.
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The Virginia Department of Education, Office of Career and Technical Education held its Creating Excellence Awards luncheon on Thursday June 9, 2016 in Richmond Virginia. Top Regional winners and State winners were announced. A Virginia Department of Education and Virginia Community College System selected panel of judges reviews the applications and selects regional winners and one state winner in three categories: Secondary Advisory Committee, Secondary Business and Industry Partnership, and Secondary CTE program.
We are excited to announce that the Precision Machining Technology/ Advanced Manufacturing Program, nominated by Pittsylvania County Schools, was selected as the Virginia Department of Education Career and Technical Education Creating Excellence Program of the Year for 2016. This award is presented annually to recognize exemplary programs and partnerships that promote excellence in career and technical education.
When asked about her thoughts on receiving being chosen at the State winner, Mrs. Angela Rigney, Principal of the Pittsylvania Career and Technical Center stated: “It brings great excitement to know that our Precision Machining Program has been selected as the state winner for Creating Excellence Exemplary Secondary Program. Our Precision Machining Program provides a pathway like no other in the country. A pathway of ‘skills and knowledge,’ that provides students, industry, and economic development with our community. What many have noted as ‘the best kept secret in Pittsylvania County,’ is shining bright and graduating excellence. We firmly believe that this is only the beginning for our students at the Pittsylvania Career and Technical Center.”
Exemplary Secondary Programs are judged on five criteria: Integration of Academic Concepts, Evidence of Technical Skills Attainment, Preparing Students for Successful Transition to Post Secondary Programs, Creating Partnerships with Business, Industry, Education, and other Stakeholders, and lastly on Performance Data. All of these criteria can be summed up by one statement. What Pittsylvania County Schools has created is a clear and defined pathway to career success in Precision Machining Technology. We know this to be true based on the data gathered from this program. Based on the 2014-2015 Annual Performance Report for Pittsylvania County Schools’ (PCS) Career and Technical Education programs, it is clear that students are not only attaining the academic and technical skills necessary but also surpassing their peers across the state. For the past 3 years, PCS students in Career and Technical Education (CTE) program completers have scored a 99.45 – 99.65% on Academic Attainment. Additionally, students that attend the Pittsylvania Career and Technical Center in the Precision Machining program for 2 years and transition to Danville Community College, have a 100% job placement rate upon graduation.
Pittsylvania Career and Technical Center (PCTC) offers a 2 year program in Precision Machining Technology for all high school students within Pittsylvania County Schools. This program utilizes state of the art machinery, such as Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, and teaches college level curriculum to develop a skilled workforce pipeline in the advanced manufacturing field. By learning how to operate these advanced machines, students receive a skill set that is valuable and highly sought after in today’s industry. This 2 year program also provides students with 3 industry certifications prior to graduating high school. Students that choose this unique career path, receive 48 dual enrollment credits from Danville Community College and save an estimated $6,000 in college tuition while building a firm foundation in advanced manufacturing. This will be the third year Pittsylvania County has offered this program, and the pathway has already proven a success. Fifteen of the students graduated from PCTC have either obtained a job in the field, or went on to further their education at the Gene Haas Center for Integrated Machining. Currently there are 38 students enrolled in either the first or second year of the program at the Pittsylvania Career and Technical Center.
The direct pipeline of education has proven to build a strong foundation of connections from the middle school level all the way into the workplace. It is for these reasons that the Pittsylvania Career and Technical Center’s Precision Machining/ Advanced Manufacturing Program was selected as the State Winner of Creating Excellence Exemplary Secondary Program.
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