Fairmont CTE program partners with community organizations

FAIRMONT, Minn. (KEYC) -A rising trend in public schools, Career and Technical Education centers aim to give students hands on training in various trades.

New Ulm has settled in to their CTE center, and Fairmont is one month into their center’s maiden voyage.

“It’s going well. I mean there’s bugs that we have to get out, and they’re still working on some things, but other than that the space that we have is pretty nice,” says woodshop instructor Brad Johnson.

The Fairmont facility opened its doors on October 11, one year after construction began.

Students said that the facility has already helped prepare them for ventures post-graduation, and that the new building is a major upgrade over the old facilities.

“I love it down here it just, coming here from the old shop to this shop we have a lot more opportunity to build, like sheds in the old shop we couldn’t build anything that big,” said student Hartley Aust.

The center has partnered with local businesses, who provide equipment and projects for students to complete.

Students are currently building sheds for Habitat for Humanity, to go alongside the organization’s housing projects.

Staff members said that working with outside groups has proven to be beneficial to the center and the students, but that it hasn’t come without a learning curve.

“Habitat, they delivered the supplies, the kids are building the sheds. We got materials delivered from other local people too, we work with HVAC and so we’re just trying to feel out how this relationship is going to go. It’s a win-win for everybody,” said Johnson.

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