Sunlight fills the lobby of a state-of-the-art building as two culinary students pass by you holding boxes of brand new pots and pans. As you explore, you stumble upon the veterinary science lab and see a student securing a cone collar to a puppy. This is a scene you may come across at the new KRESA Career Connect Campus.
Since 1984, Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency (KRESA) has provided Kalamazoo Public Schools students and students from other school districts in the region an opportunity for unique, hands-on, and specialized learning. One of the most popular opportunities they offer are their Education for the Arts (EFA) and Career Technical Education (CTE) programs which allow students to learn actively in a field of their choice and gain valuable experience that prepares them for future careers.
In previous years, these programs were spread out amongst multiple schools and buildings, but now, with the opening of their new $100 million high-tech building on Thursday, May 22, all of these programs will be in the same space and students will have access to all new, high-quality, industry-standard equipment and facilities.
“The space has been built with a lot of intentionality,” said Assistant Principal of Instruction and former LN history teacher, Kyle Shack. “The benefit is everything has been designed specifically for whatever career pathway the students are involved in, so they get a lot of hands-on opportunity, but then a lot of collaborative, more flexible space to dig deeply into whatever it is they’re studying.”
This building comes with brand new high-tech equipment and facilities that will allow students to acquire new skills and understand technology that they will need in future careers.
“It’s very high tech and it will allow them to get some real restaurant experience as all this equipment is actual restaurant equipment, not home use stuff,” said culinary instructor Andy Havey. “This is gonna really challenge them and show them what it’s all about, and that way when they get into a real restaurant situation, they will be familiar with all this kind of equipment.“
One major benefit of this new space is that it will allow students to have a lot more opportunities for hands-on learning. Prior to the new building, some classes lacked the space and equipment for hands-on learning.
Now, with the implementation of specialized space and high-tech equipment, there are far fewer limitations. For example, compared to the old location for the mechatronics class in Vicksburg, the new lab has upgraded equipment like custom-built machines and a larger lab space that will allow students to have more time in the lab rather than working on computers.
“At the [prior] Vicksburg building, the students were primarily in the computer space. Here, they’re gonna be primarily in the lab space doing hands-on activities,” said Mike Jensenius, a technical assistant for the mechatronics class. “Doing hands-on projects helps the material – the fundamentals that we’re teaching them – really sink in, versus just learning on a computer and answering a multiple choice test.”
This new space also gives different classes the opportunity to collaborate. Now that all the classes are centralized in one building, it’s easier for students to work together on projects with students who are enrolled in other subjects.
“We’ve already had instructors that have talked about our culinary and our auto program doing a food truck together,” said Diane Fort, assistant principal of student services. “That’s even our design program, auto program, culinary program, all coming together – mechatronics could as well, machine tool or welding. There’s so many programs that could really come together for that project, and that’s just an example of some things that I’ve heard.”
Sophomore Sophia Hamrick is taking the design EFA in the fall. She is looking forward to the interactive and collaborative environment that this new space will provide her. Unlike other art classes available in KPS, with this new space, students in the design EFA will have access to technology like 3D printers, large naturally-lit art studios and the opportunity to collaborate with students studying different subjects in the building
“It’ll let me be more creative, and when taking design, that’s something that I need to do,” said Hamrick. “I like how everyone’s together, it’s all tied together very nicely.”
The new career connect building will allow CTE programs to be even more enriching than years past. It will provide students with invaluable experiences that will set them up to be more prepared for future studies and careers.
“CTE programming gives all students a competitive advantage,” said Fort. “Whether they want to go straight into the workforce, whether they want to go for an apprenticeship, or they want to go on for 10 years because they want to be a doctor, every single one of our programs gives students that competitive advantage to elevate their skill set before their next step.”
