By Tim Arnett
WABASH,Indiana – On the next Wabash Talks, Director Mark Hobbs and Supervisor of Student Services Pete Dupont will take us on a tour around Heartland Career Center and the 15 programs the school offers. Many people do not know just how varied the courses are at Heartland – everything from Cosmetology to Auto Collision to Culinary Arts. This year, the school received a $100,000 grant for the Electronics and Computer program which will result in students earning industrial electrical certifications.
Hobbs mentioned the new Parkview Wabash Hospital which is scheduled to brake ground in July and how that will benefit Heartland’s Health Sciences program. He explained that up to 10 interns will spend their part of their semesters at Parkview when the new facility is finished in 2018.
The Early Childhood Education program will undergo major changes as a pre-school will be housed within Heartland Career Center in the next year. Many of the students in this program already work in day care centers. But Hobbs said the program’s expansion will greatly benefit Heartland students because they will now have better oversight from teachers. Plus, he added, there is a real need for a new pre-school in the area.
The Industrial classes are what most people think of when they thing of Heartland. Over the last few years, numerous large grants have been obtained to support the advanced manufacturing portion of the various programs. The school has installed two virtual systems to help students learn valuable welding and auto body painting skills in the virtual world without using supplies.
While roughly 45% of Heartland students go on to traditional post secondary education, one of the goals of the school is to help the remaining 55% enter some sort of apprenticeship after graduation or train them there to have enough skills to go out a get their first real jobs. Director Mark Hobbs.
To hear more from Heartland Career Center’s Mark Hobbs and Pete Dupont, tune into Wabash Talks, this Sunday morning at 9 am on 105.9 The Bash.