By sandi carpello
Staff Writer
RED BANK — For high school vocational programs, it’s out with the old and in with the new.
Taking a quantum leap into the twenty-first century, the Red Bank Regional High School District has demolished its auto mechanics and building trades workshop rooms and replaced them with state-of-the-art technology and robotics laboratories.
"In auto mechanics and building trades, we surveyed [and found] that enrollment was dwindling. Many of the students were not coming out of those programs getting high-paying jobs, so we canceled them," said district Superintendent Dr. Edward Westerveldt. "The new vocational programs have a more high-tech nature and are comparable to the programs offered at High Technology High School (in Lincroft)."
Students who have their heart set on enrolling in an auto mechanics and building trades program will be bused over to the Monmouth County Vocational School facility for those classes.
Red Bank Regional’s new "optimum space" laboratories, complete with brand new computers, lab tables and group work stations, will meet the high demand for increased enrollment in those vocational technology programs, including the district’s two-year Cisco Networking Program and "Project Lead the Way" — a four-year, pre-engineering and robotics program.
Enrollment in "Project Lead the Way," which works in conjunction with the Rochester Institute of Technology, has jumped from 12 students to 40 students in the past three years, said Ron Tagliareni, Red Bank Regional’s director of technology.
"The idea of the program is to get kids interested in all aspects of engineering — digital electronics, design, computer integrating. The students take five classes in four years."
The Cisco program, which teaches students to upgrade, build and maintain computer networks, has also gained enormous popularity, boasting an enrollment of 38 juniors and seniors, Tagliareni said.
"Most students attend college after completing the Cisco program. But the great thing is, after they complete the program, they earn a certificate. Cisco will hire them right out of the box."
According to Westerveldt, high school vocational programs have changed some in the past several years. They are no longer geared toward students who do not want to attend college, he said. "Many students who complete the vocational programs do go to college."
The lab construction is funded through a $15 million construction bond that was approved by district voters in 2001.