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The majority of this 2,500 square foot expansion is possible because of a technical education grant. The expansion will allow for the current auto mechanics course students to have their own area rather than sharing a crowded space with the CTE curriculum students.
Past articles:
Madison School Board approves plans to build auto shop
By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff reporter | Posted: Monday, May 9, 2016 8:27 pm, Courtesy of the Madison Daily Leader
The Madison School Board put into motion plans to add a 2,500squarefoot auto mechanics shop onto the Madison High School Building.
Adam Shaw, principal at Madison High School, told the school board members that the school district still had about $250,000 remaining from a career and technical education grant that Madison Central had received from the state. The original amount for the CTE grant was $377,000 and state officials expect the school district to use all of the money by Dec. 31, 2016.
Shaw said the current auto mechanics course conducted within the CTE curriculum shared the shop currently used by MHS’ agricultural mechanics program, and the two courses were cramped for space in finding enough room to perform mechanical work.
Shaw has already received approval from state officials to use the grant money for adding more shop space to the high school building, an addition located next to the ag shop and also near the school’s greenhouse.
The board members approved hiring designArc, a Brookings architectural firm, and authorizing an agreement worth $20,000 to conduct design work on the project.
Madison CTE Program Pushes Manufacturing Industry
This is the third in a series spotlighting South Dakota’s manufacturing industry during the 2nd annual SD Manufacturing Week.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014, via www.sdreadytowork.com
It’s no secret that South Dakota’s manufacturing sector continues to grow. In fact, from 2012 to 2013, South Dakota manufacturers alone added 343 jobs to our economy. That number is expected to grow even more this year.
The Madison Central School District hopes that its new CTE (Career & Technical Education) program, a program funded partially through a Future Fund grant from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), can prepare and educate its students to fill the growing demand. And it all started a year ago—at the conclusion of SD Manufacturing Week 2013.
“When we took our kids out to tour the local manufacturing companies during last year’s Manufacturing Week, they were completely mesmerized by what was happening and being produced right here in our hometown,” said Adam Shaw, Madison High School’s principal. “That really got us thinking we should implement some kind of program promoting our manufacturing industry.”
And so, planning for a CTE program began.
Dustin Williams, plant manager for ManitouGehl in Madison, was a key player early on in the planning stages of the future CTE program.
“When Dustin said, ‘I need welders, like 40 right now,’ we knew welding needed to be a focus of this CTE program,” Shaw said. “And thanks to his openness to training, education and forward thinking, he’s letting us use Gehl’s welding lab to train our welding students.”
Through Madison’s newly established CTE program, students are able to earn dual credits for graduation, as well as earn credits to begin completion of a welding program offered through Lake Area Technical Institute.
“Not only are we teaching these kids a valuable trade skill, one that is in high demand right now, but we are hoping they go to a vocational school to complete the welding program they’ve already started. So often we lose valuable, highlyskilled students to other states. Our hope is that we can keep them here and hopefully see them return home to a job right here in Madison,” Shaw added.
There’s room to grow too. Madison’s CTE program is offering other CTE courses in specialty areas like culinary arts, automotive and biomedical sciences.
“It’s more than sitting and learning in a classroom. The kids will get hands-on training that will eventually open many more doors for them,” Shaw said.