The CTC: Now and the future

The Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center is one of 57 in the state. Opened in 2001, the $11.2 million, 120,000-square-foot center on Silver Springs Road continues to expand its course offerings.

Director Rich Payne hopes to raise $1.5 million to build and equip a free-standing addition for the vocational school's growing electrical trades program. The proposed expansion would include a 2,300-square-foot shop area, a 980-square-foot computer lab and four other classrooms. Payne wants to level a hillside behind the career center to make room for the new building.

The center's enrollment includes 750 students from 11 area school districts and about 12,000 adult students over the course of this school year. The adult training includes short-term sessions lasting just a few days to year-long classes.

The career center is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. each school day. Many of the adult classes are held in the evenings. "You can come by any evening and this parking lot is full," said Payne.

About 1,200 students a day take classes at the center.

High school students can't take vocational classes until they are juniors. Adult classes include elderly students. "We have 60-year-old grandmas in there learning how to use e-mail so they can communicate with their grandkids," said Payne.

Unlike traditional schools and colleges, the career center can create a new course offering for adult students and have the class established within weeks. Payne presides over a school with 47 teachers and an operating budget of $3.3 million.

The center routinely provides customized training for employers. New hires at Procter & Gamble's sprawling paper products plant in Cape Girardeau County go through specialized training at the vocational school.

Southeast Missouri State University and Mineral Area College offer some basic college classes at the center. The classes are needed for two-year degree programs.

The Cape Girardeau School District operates the school. The various school districts pay tuition for their students to attend. Adult students also pay tuition.

Students at the career center are taught math as part of their technical training. Math skills are critical in many trades from computer technology to welding.

Career center graduates can obtain national certification in many of the trade areas. Payne said that can help them obtain jobs. "It provides our students that credential they need to get their foot in the door," he said.

-- Mark Bliss