Dovetailing with Indiana’s new emphasis on high school-to-work training, Merrillville High School showed off its freshly-completed $21 million Career, Technical, Education building Tuesday.
“It’s going to open up so many doors to what’s happening in the real world,” said Principal Mike Krutz before ribbon cuttings that included students and school officials.
Guests also toured separate hands-on labs and classrooms for automotive, construction trades, fire and rescue, and welding programs.
The new CTE building is linked to the high school on its southeast side.
Work began about 20 months ago as part of a districtwide $140 million capital projects plan financed through a bond issue.
School officials said earlier the new spending would be tax-neutral, meaning taxpayers wouldn’t see an increase because the plan was structured upon the retirement of old debt.
Students won’t start classes in the new CTE center until the high school’s next trimester begins next month, said Krutz, who expects 300 to 400 students to take part in its courses.
School officials earlier cited rising interest in CTE classes that were outgrowing cramped quarters in the high school.
“We’re busting at the seams, but we had to grow,” CTE director Bob Phelps said last year.
In 2015, Merrillville left the Gary Area Career Center consortium and began offering classes at its own high school as student interest grew. It has 24 courses and 29 instructors, Phelps said.
State officials are redesigning Indiana’s high school diploma requirements, placing greater importance on career pathways as a route to graduation.
On Wednesday, seniors Kayla Williams and Joshua Burns greeted guests Tuesday in their welding hoods.
Williams, 17, said she took her first welding class as a sophomore and has earned an initial certificate.
“It’s hard, but I’m not the type to give up and I’ve been good at it,” she said.
Williams is weighing her future options. She may stay with welding and attend Ivy Tech Community College in Crown Point or pursue other academic plans.
Burns, 18, and Williams visited a Navy recruiting office Tuesday to explore career options. Burns said he’d like to become a Navy SEAL.
Their instructor, Joe Sokol, who left his job as a math teacher at Munster High School to lead MHS’s welding program, said the lab would include up to 14 bays for students to weld.
The space also includes a classroom, storage, and a large demonstration area.
Sokol said he had a student last year who went directly into a welding job after graduation.
Griffith Assistant Fire Chief James Sopher is the fire and rescue class instructor.
He praised the town of Highland for donating a fire engine to the program so that students could train inside. “It’s just like we do at the firehouse,” he said.
The fire and rescue area also includes a loft with two windows that will be used for ladder and stairway rescues, he said.
“They’ll bring the victims down a ladder or a stairwell,” Sopher said. Students on the ladder will wear a harness to ensure their safety, he said.
There’s also a shower and eyewash station for clean-ups.
Senior Bianca Martinez, 17, wore her dad’s Gary Fire Department uniform as she watched Sopher speak.
Her dad worked for the department for 20 years, she said. She said she’s weighing careers in firefighting or nursing.
She offered a quick assessment of her new class surroundings.
“It’s 100% better. Before we were just in a classroom and had to use our ropes in a hallway,” she said of the hands-on training.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
