Hillyard Technical Center hosts showcase for prospective students

By Jazmine Knight

With the recent additions of a brand new simulated manufacturing facility and a newly renovated health science wing, Hillyard Technical Center has a lot to show off during the HTC Showcase.

The event gives eighth, ninth and 10th grade students, along with their families, a chance to explore the state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge programs Hillyard has to offer.

Students can learn around 18 different career fields including but not limited to: agriculture, carpentry, precision machining, electronics and industrial maintenance.

Rick Weiser, career service coordinator at Hillyard, said the showcase also invites industry partners, which are employers and post-secondary educators, to connect with the kids and answer any questions they may have.

“(They) come in and show students that when you come to Hillyard Technical Center, you have a pathway to a job. You have a pathway to post-secondary education,” Weiser said.

At Hillyard, Weiser said their goal is to make students “job ready, college ready and life ready.”

Weiser said Hillyard relies on industry partners for placing and employing students. Partners also sit on Hillyard’s advisory committee to help mold programs into what they need.

“They come in and tell us we need this kind of skill. We need, you know, whatever the technical skill is, they try to help us with that,” he said.

Weiser also mentioned how the showcase is a great way for parents to learn about the opportunities available.

“Sometimes students need a little nudge towards one way or the other of what they want to do,” said Weiser. “So it also facilitates discussion in the home when the student knows a little bit about it and the parent knows a little bit about it.”

Hillyard senior Dexter Grantham said he feels excited about the new facilities.

“It’s fantastic to see a lot of these new machines and the fact that the health sciences wing got remodeled is fantastic, because not enough people go into that,” he said.

Grantham is most excited to work on the new CNC mill machine.

“They’re what are called conversational programming, which is basically what all the users do now,” Grantham said. “With the new stuff that we got, we’ll be able to be prepared to go straight into the workforce … and be prepared to succeed.”

Grantham was once a student attending the HTC showcase. Originally, he wanted to be a music teacher, but it quickly changed once he saw Hillyard.

“As soon as I came here, I took nat programming machining, and my grandpa did it for many years. I didn’t expect to like it much,” he said.

But he said programming has had a big impact on his life.

“Being able to actually make something has really affected my life in an amazing way,” he said. “To the point where I’m looking into getting jobs at the big manufacturers here and being able to make a stable living, a good living in this time.”

When it comes to advice for Hillyard’s prospective students, Grantham said students should consider what type of things they want to try out.

“Whether health sciences, college, trade schools in manufacturing because we have all different areas for that with different manufacturers,” he said.

Once students have that figured out, Grantham suggests just browsing and talk to people or representatives from the company.

“They’re here to genuinely talk to you, genuinely connect with you,” Grantham said.

He said during his time at Hillyard, he connected with a mentor named Mr. Hoffman. Grantham said Hoffman has been in the industry for so long that he knows all the ins and outs that make life easier.

“He’s really coasted me through this and helped me really learn this because I’m not used to getting my hands dirty, but he really taught me to be able to work on this stuff,” Grantham said.

Hoffman once gave Grantham advice that stuck with him to this day.

“I was told once, ‘It’s not the hand you’ve been given. That’s how you play it.’ And Mr. Hoffman has really helped me learn this,” Grantham said.