New Tech Center shows stunning improvement

CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT
cristina@tecumsehherald.com

Students are busy at the LISD Tech Center, and it’s easier to peek in
and see just how busy in the newly renovated halls of the main
building. Large windows line the hallways giving a direct view into the
rooms, which are anything but traditional. Through one window culinary
students dressed in white chef uniforms are busy mixing and sautéing
while students in the electrical engineering class are working amid
robotic arms and the portable wind turbine. Still more students are
busily working at new computer terminals tearing apart and rebuilding
networks.

LISD Tech Center Principal Ryan Rowe and Lenawee Intermediate School
District Community Relations Coordinator Ann Hinsdale-Knisel have
proudly taken local administrators on the tour of the facility, which
has systematically seen improvements throughout the past few years.
This summer, however, the LISD essentially gutted the main building,
making improvements on the hallways and labs such as the hospitality
careers lab as well as adding an area for biochemistry study. The
renovations not only include state-of-the art equipment for classrooms
but the hallways now have display cases showing the work students are
doing in such Tech Center classes as Graphic Imaging Technology. There
also are monitors imbedded throughout the corridors that display the
work students are doing with the latest digital technology. “Before we
didn’t have a place to demonstrate the work being done by students,”
said Rowe. “Students now aren’t just doing 3D and 2D projects anymore.”
In fact, every video on display in the halls of the Tech Center were
produced by students.

The sleek new look, that includes a café lobby that is run by marketing
students, gives the building a more professional or corporate feel than
the previous institutional look. The finishing touches were still being
put on the building going into December, but the labs were ready for
use when students returned to school this fall.
“We are trying to stay ahead,” said Rowe. “It’s a big step we are
taking now. We decided that if we were going to support area businesses
and our students better that we need to make some changes. At the same
time we are constantly looking at what post-secondary programs to align
with.”

The LISD Tech Center offers 27 programs in all that run the gamut from
design to health occupations to engineering to building trades and much
more as well as an adult education program. Along with the regular
offerings, there are 20 summer camps that introduce children in the
third to fifth grades to the many offerings they will encounter as
future Tech Center students. Because of the change in graduation
requirements in Michigan the Center also is looking at creative ways
such as evening offerings to accommodate its students who really want
that hands-on experience in a vocation of interest. “It’s place where
students take something they might have learned in their home district
and apply it to something they might have been interested in for
years,” Rowe said.

He said that the Center is always looking to the future not only with
the updates to the physical structure but in what is offered at the
Tech Center as well. Each year, the LISD Tech Center looks at the job
forecast data provided by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic
Growth in July to gauge how to enhance the programs to best prepare
students. “It makes our job easier as far as knowing what we should or
should not be offering,” said Rowe.

He credits the community with its constant support of the Tech Center
for making it the quality learning facility that it has become.
Students interested in automobile maintenance or bodywork have a
facility that resembles a working shop and students in hospitality
careers have a state-of-the-art kitchen to learn food preparation
techniques. The results of the renovations have showing in classes such
as hospitality careers where students have earned state and national
recognition in competition. The next phase will include a renovation of
the machine trades lab.
“We know each individual school district can’t provide this. That’s why
the community has pooled their resources together. Other school
districts may have a career tech program in the high school. We are
fortunate to be supported by the community, so we are able to have
set-ups like our automotive shop,” said Rowe.
Just as valuable as the hands-on experience is the fact that students
get to practice professionalism in a model setting. “In addition to
hard skills,” said Hinsdale-Knisel said. There is an enormous amount of
focus on soft skills as well with personality development. A large
portion of what we do here is employability skills.”
The Tech Center is one of many programs offered by the LISD. To learn
more about the courses offered at the LISD Tech Center, call 263.2108
or visit the website at www.lisd.us.