Awards.....

Last night at the JOC meeting, the Students of the Month for April were presented with their awards. They are:

Devin Eckert - Grade 10 - Auto Tech - Dallastown

Andrew Bilger - Grade 12 - Welding - Southeastern

Speaking of awards that M/T students have recently earned, it's important to note that Andrew (listed above) and a Metal Machining student Kyle Harrison recently earned their Eagle Scout ranks. They join another Metal Machining student, Uriah Ramsey, in holding that distinguished honor.

(Author note: I will be out of town presenting at and attending a conference for the early part of next week. The next blog entry will not be until the end of next week).

"Flame Spray"

Yesterday, Tom Crist (pictured here) visited the Weld shop to demonstrate repair techniques on cast iron metal. He visited with one of our favorite OAC members, Claudia Bottenfield. This was the culmination of a collaborative project between the Metal Machine and Weld shops to repair this part that was brought in by a customer.

M/T at the Prom part 1

Look at our Man Tran students at the prom (some pictured with dates of students in other academies). Even one of our teachers makes an appearance in the pictures above. Enjoy!

Partnerships and NOCTI scores

In the attached picture, you will see a project that was completed by a YCST student welder and the paint shop at Lebanon County CTC (http://www.lcctc.k12.pa.us/). Awesome!!

And speaking of awesome, our students' full NOCTI scores are coming in.... each 12th grade student in the Welding and Power Equipment Technology programs scored Advanced on the combined written and hands-on test! We also received the results from the Collision and Auto tests, and the combined scores look improved over last year as well. Way to go, M/T seniors!!!

Bring Your Child to Work

Yesterday was Take Your Child to Work day. Mr. Kessler, Automotive Instructor, brought his daughter with him here yesterday to see what her dad does each day here at YCST. The students (the pictures above are the two different groups of students in the shops throughout the day) welcomed her and treated her with the utmost respect.

And how about it.... she even showed up in a matching uniform to what the students and instructors wear.... blue Dickies, work boots and the red shirt. Awesome.... maybe she's a future student in the Automotive program here at Tech.

This day just reaffirmed for me the welcoming nature of the York Tech Family.

Skills USA and OAC meeting

Seth Donet, Power Equipment student, was our one M/T representative at the state Skills USA competition last week. Seth had a great experience, placing fifth in the competition. Thanks for representing us well, Seth!

Last night, the diesel instructors held their spring OAC meeting. Thanks to the members who showed up. It's always great to see the folks from business and industry to help us to improve our diesel program.

M/T students in Donkey Basketball

On Saturday night, Skills USA sponsored a Donkey Basketball game, pitting a student team against a teacher team (the students won by 1 basket). We had some representation from the Man/Tran Academy on the student team. Two of those students are pictured above.

The students I saw participating from Man/Tran were:

Luis Castillo - Welding Technology

Antonio Stone - Welding Technology

Cody Arnold - Diesel Technology

Thanks to Skills USA for organizing such a fun event for our students and staff!

SPARTAN head

Pictured here are two Welding students and a staff member who works in the welding area with our newly completed Spartan head that is now hanging in the M/T hallway. This project was a collaboration between a Welding student (Luis Castillo), and four Collision Repair students (Matt McKenna, Kelvin Ortiz, Steve Kondor, and Cody Miller). Thanks so much to those students for creating the wonderful gift for the school!

M/T Student/Athletes

I have seen an amazing increase this school year in M/T student involvement in YCST athletics. During the winter season, a majority of the students on the wrestling team were Man/Tran students. Yesterday afternoon, I made it down to my first varsity baseball game of the season. The student up at bat is a Man/Tran student. The two M/T students who started for the team yesterday were Abdiel Narvaez (10th grade) at first base and Pedro Rodriguez (9th grade!) at shortstop. The team won against Fairfield 5-2!

We also have a standout catcher on the varsity softball team who is a Man/Tran student. Dani Aikens, a 9th grader, has contributed greatly to the teams' wins so far this season. Yesterday, the girls' softball team won their home game with Fairfield as well.

PSSAs

Our Man/Tran 11th grade students, like all 11th grade students in the building, are about halfway done with their PSSA testing. Their have been great incentives offered to the 11th grade students by the directors of the school for perfect attendance during the PSSA testing (i.e. dress down days) and for scoring proficient or above on the tests (free parking permits - a Man/Tran favorite, free prom tickets, dress down days during the 2010-2011 school year, not having to take the 4Sight tests during the senior year, not having to take a PSSA course, etc. Our students are adjusting well to the schedule changes that occur during the testing and seem to be maintaining good attendance and a positive attitude. I'm confident that our students' results this year will better show what our students know and can do.

AWS Car Show, Part II

Even though I have additional pictures from the car show, our Media Center Specialist, Mrs. Runkle, put together this great video that she posted on YouTube. Thanks Mrs. Runkle!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4HVr8Aqwis

AWS Car Show at York Tech Part 1

These three pictures from today's car show all have something in common - they show vehicles that were entered by staff members or students from our school. The top picture is a Studebaker owned by 9th grade diesel student's (Cody Arnold) family. The second picture shows an ancient tractor owned by Welding student, Ben Dehoff, and family. The 1968 BMW 600cc bike I am sitting on (with Mr. Yarrison next to me) was restored by our Cabinetmaking instructor, Clyde Dorsett.

More pictures to come! Great job to Mr. Yarrison, Mr. Seitzer, and the Welding students who are making this day great!

Visit From AWS President

We finally had our visit from the AWS President, John Bruskotter. He gave a fascinating presentation to our Welding students about the profession of a welder and all the options that it gives for employment. He emphasized the importance of the certifications and education in general. The pictures above show a group of Welding students, myself, and Mr. Yarrison with Mr. Bruskotter, and the second one shows his signing one of the welding students' helmets.

By the way, 2 days until the AWS Car Show!!

NOCTI Written Tests

A couple instructors have shared some important NOCTI results (from the written portions of the tests). The news is great so far.... In Welding, 100% of the students scored ADVANCED on the written portion! That is amazing! Congrats to those seniors! In Automotive, each senior who took the written portion (with the exception of 2) improved their scores from the pre-NOCTI that they took in the fall. Also, amazing! I can't wait to hear more results.

Only 3 days until the AWS Car Show....

Donation to YWCA, Prom Court, and AWS Car Show

See the above picture of our three welding students presenting their project to Ms. Hooper, the director of the YWCA childcare center housed here at YCST. These three students did a great job on the project.

Speaking of Welding, we are also on the countdown until the AWS Car Show..... 4 days away!!! I can't wait to see all the fantastic vehicles on display! Rumor has it that the school's director, Dr. Thomas, may show up on his Harley, weather permitting.



One last bit of exciting news for our Man/Tran students. If you happen to follow Mrs. Parks' blog as well, you will see that the Prom Court was announced last week. Multiple students on that list are Man/Tran students! They are Tavon Vasquez, Ben Dehoff, Becky Weaver, and Deaven Brown.

My time in Metal Machining and a Visit for Diesel Girls

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit for a while with some of the students in the Metal Machining program. Here we see two students working on an outside job. The students told me that they think this is a tractor part that they are trying to get apart. Then, students in the Welding program will be working on making the part connected again so that the tractor will work again.

Also, our diesel girls had a great visitor yesterday. A woman with 23 yrs of truck driving experience came to meet with them yesterday about what it's like to be a woman in that field. I was able to sit in on part of the meeting, and our young ladies really seemed to get a lot out of the conversation.