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Submitted by Mark Edwards, Director of College and Career Readiness.
A new Goshen Program lead by Goshen High School teacher Brian Russell is helping to provide opportunities for students in a familiar but new way. Goshen Local Schools has developed an apprenticeship program in carpentry with the help from the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) and the Ohio Valley Associates of Building Contractors. What some would see as a vestige of an old shop class has been transformed into a training center for future carpenters equipped with the capability for students to earn Industry Recognized Credentials in construction and carpentry.
With material help from Valley Interior Systems and the Goshen Education Foundation two students recently completed their final project to obtain their Level 1 Carpentry credential. The credential these students earned have set a path for future students to earn these credentials. In general, these nationally recognized credentials make individuals more desirable to future employers and can also bring in larger salaries for the credential holder. For their final project Ethan Cox and Jacob Anderson built a garden shed that will hopefully be placed in the back of the HS to store the gardening tools for a newly created garden.
The Goshen Education Foundation was instrumental in helping the students earn this credential by working with Valley Interior Systems a local construction firm to provide the materials for the final project. Goshen Schools is thankful for their partnership in helping students achieve this industry recognized credential. Along with Ethan Cox and Jacob Anderson 80 other students have earned their NCCER core construction credential over the last two years in this new program.