L to R – Keith Yohn – LCCTC Assistant Administrative Director, Julian Honaker – Administrative Medical Assistant program – Hempfield SD, Melinda Miller – Medical Assistant – Manheim Central SD, Melody Miller – LCCTC Medical Assistant Instructor, and Ashley Burkett – Medical Assistant program- Penn Manor SD.
Students from the Lancaster County Career & Technology Center attended an episode of WITF’s Smart Talk Road Trip Thursday morning at the Rose Lehrman Arts Center at the Harrisburg Area Community College campus. The program was a remote broadcast of the station’s daily public affairs radio program. The day’s topic was career and technical education (CTE). Students from CTE institutions from all over the region attended the broadcast.
Keith Yohn, Assistant Administrative Director of the Lancaster County CTC, was one of the escorts for the LCCTC students attending the broadcast. He said that the radio show was a great opportunity to share information and insight on career and technology education and on the role that CTCs have in preparing their students to further their education.
“The public doesn’t hear enough about the pathways that are available to CTE students to continue on and get college degrees. Institutions like the Lancaster CTC have dual enrollment and articulation agreements with regional colleges and universities providing direct connections between a career and technology education and a college degree.
The broadcast featured interviews and panel discussions with questions from the students in the audience. Ashley Burkett, a Medical Assistant student from Penn Manor School District, stood in a lengthy line to ask the panel a question.
“My comments during my time at the microphone focused on the pathways that are available in career and technology education to continue on and get a college degree,” Burkett said. “I want to be a Labor and Delivery Nurse and I realized early on that my classes and courses here at the Lancaster County CTC are building me toward that goal. I will graduate from CTC and my sending school as a Certified Medical Assistant. How can that not give me a head start over students starting college who haven’t taken a hard medical class yet? In my opinion, CTC students are driven! They are way better prepared for the difficulty that they will face in college than those of us that have taken healthcare courses.”
Julian Honaker, an LCCTC Administrative Medical Assistant student from Hempfield School District, shared Ashley’s views and gave his own opinion on the perception of career and technical education during the broadcast.
“I think that parents aren’t really seeing what CTCs are all about. The Lancaster County CTC helped me figure out what it is that I want to do with my life. There is a perception that going to school at a CTC is somehow going to keep you from continuing your education. That is the exact opposite of the truth,” Honaker said.
According to the Smart Talk website, interviewees and panelists included “Gene Barr, President and CEO the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry to offer a state-wide look at the demand for a technically skilled work force.” Additional guests included “Scott Rogers, Assistant Director, York County School of Technology, along with student Nadia Stuckey, a Senior in the Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing program. Justin Bruhn, Director, Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School and Kasey Davis, a senior in the Dental Assisting program are also joining the conversation to share their perspective.”
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