“I love it when a plan comes together.” Especially when that plan strengthens a technical school for medium- and heavy-duty diesel technicians.
That’s what they’re saying in Pittsburgh this fall after stakeholders from industry and education joined together to create a partnership between a high school and technical school on a program that will offer high school students the opportunity to get a head start on their careers.
Pittsburgh’s North Catholic High School and Rosedale Technical College are the schools involved and Point Spring & Driveshaft President Sean Ryan says their exciting new collaboration was several months in the making.
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A graduate of North Catholic himself, Ryan says he and fellow alum Hunter Truck Sales COO Ralph Fischer have always wanted to help expose students at their alma mater to the career opportunities found in the trucking space. Ryan says many students at North Catholic move on to traditional universities after high school, but the North Catholic School Board and President Joe Wilson have always believed it essential to provide other continuing education paths for students who may not matriculate to a four-year school.
“I’ve personally thought about it for quite some time. [North Catholic] has several alumni and parents who own businesses in the HVAC and trucking industries. They have expressed how hard it is to find good workers even though the jobs pay well,” says Wilson. “We have so many good students here this seemed like a good opportunity to expose them to an alternative path compared to a traditional four-year degree.”
Ryan says he and Fischer agreed that a connection between North Catholic and a technician program made sense, and this year, in cooperation with Wilson and Rosedale’s team North Catholic was able to make that happen.
