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A different education

Levittown District’s GC Tech grows

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Cosmetology students, from left, Gabby Boneville, Lexi Brindisi and Alexa Devito enjoyed giving makeovers and talking to people at open house events.
Cosmetology students, from left, Gabby Boneville, Lexi Brindisi and Alexa Devito enjoyed giving makeovers and talking to people at open house events.
Rebecca Anderson/Herald

Throughout February, the Association for Career and Technical Education sponsored a national awareness campaign to recognize programs that prepare high school students for “high-wage, high-demand careers” in health care, information technology, law enforcement, hospitality and management. In the Wantagh-Seaford area, a slew of these programs are offered year-round at the Gerald R. Claps Career and Technical Center in the Levittown School District. 

With 400 students from nearly 10 school districts across the county — including Wantagh and Seaford — GC Tech welcomes those seeking hands-on classroom experiences while studying automotive technology, electrical technology, computer animation, cosmetology, culinary arts, graphic arts, printing, medical assisting, police science and emergency medical training. Frank Creter, the center’s director, attributes the rise in interest to a dispelling of myths about career and technical education on the national level. 

“People are getting savvy to the fact that these are different pathways for success,” Creter explained. “The misnomer that CTE students don’t go to college is being eliminated. We have students with tremendous abilities who are excited to have the opportunity to learn something in-depth.” 

In 2016, 82 percent of GC Tech graduates enrolled in college or a technical school after receiving their CTE-endorsed high school diploma. Levittown district officials noted that graduates have gone on to study at institutions like the Culinary Institute of America, the Long Island Skin and Nail Institute,  the Fashion Institute of Technology, Molloy College, St. John’s University, Bryant and Stratton College, Stony Brook University and other SUNY schools. 

Juniors and seniors in high school across the county are invited to apply to GC Tech’s programs. Teens from the Wantagh, Seaford, East Meadow, Massapequa, Plainedge and Bethpage school districts are currently enrolled.

Creter said that juniors come to the center, housed in the former Levittown Memorial High School, in the morning, while seniors leave their so-called home schools midday to study their field of choice at GC Tech in the afternoon. Classes are held in two-and-a-half-hour blocks. 

“I think that’s part of the allure,” Creter said of the schedule. “It allows them to really focus their energies on something that really piques their interest.” 

William Goehringer, a senior at Wantagh High School, is studying electrical technology at GC Tech. Inspired by his father, he said he enjoyed working with his hands. 

“I like doing puzzles, and figuring out what to wire and how to write it is kind of like that,” Goehringer said. “It’s been awesome [at GC Tech]. I’ve gotten insight into the whole trade, but there’s a lot more to learn, and I’m excited to do that.” 

While Creter said that the core of CTE is hands-on learning, GC Tech also has English and math teachers on staff to teach students about resume building, public speaking and how to fill out college and job applications. 

All GC Tech teachers maintain contacts with local business leaders to ensure that the skills they’re teaching students are up to date and so they know what types of workers Long Island and New York City-based companies are seeking.

The medical assisting program is currently on the rise, Creter noted. And GC Tech officials will introduce construction management next year, because students in surrounding communities expressed interest in the field. 

While the course catalog will continue to evolve, Creter explained, GC Tech educators are not driven by trends. “We act on things that are going to be practical solutions for students’ futures,” he said. 

Students who are interested in finding out more about GC Tech’s programs should visit their home school’s guidance office or the Levittown School District website, Creter said. Families are welcome to schedule private tours of the facility. 

“We have a wonderful working relationship with the Wantagh and Seaford school districts, and I encourage people to continue to become familiar with what we do here,” he said. “I think that people are realizing that this is not the vocation of years past.”