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September 4, 2019

Hamden academy grooms high-schoolers for engineering careers

PHOTO | New Haven BIZ Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz at the future site of the Hamden Engineering Careers Academy Wednesday morning.
By Michael C. Bingham

It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Gov. Ned Lamont, state lawmakers, town officials and students took (figurative) sledgehammers in hand Wednesday morning to kick off the construction phase of the new Hamden Engineering Careers Academy (HECA). The project represents the first branch of the Hamden High School STEM Academy, which seeks to prepare students for careers in advanced manufacturing.

The new structure will rise on the north side of the red brick behemoth on Dixwell Ave. The $500,000 reconstruction of the former HHS auto-shop will convert it into a high-tech manufacturing classroom and laboratory space.

But the academic work has already begun. The first cohort of HECA students were in attendance for Wednesday morning’s formalities, many accompanied by family members. The 35 ninth- and tenth-graders (chosen from among more than 60 applicants to the program) began classwork July 1 on the new curriculum.

The HECA curriculum will concentrate on manufacturing engineering — an area that officials from both the private and public sectors agree is famously deficient in Connecticut’s present-day workforce.

As part of the HECA curriculum, students work toward industry certifications and even an associate’s degree from Gateway Community College (GCC) concurrent with work toward their high-school diplomas.

Following commencement HECA grads can transition seamlessly into the workforce or continue their education with up to two years of college credit (a total of 68 credits) already earned and paid for. This can reduce the cost of a four-year college degree by half for students and their families.

The new HHS program is headed by Dan Cocchiola, coordinator of counseling and career pathways for the Hamden public schools. To jump-start HHS’s STEM program, Cocchiola partnered with the New Haven Manufacturers Association (NHMA), GCC and the town of Hamden’s economic development department headed by Dale Kroop.

The timing seemed propitious. NHMA Executive Director Jamison Scott noted that Connecticut manufacturers currently have 10,000 unfilled jobs as a result of workforce retirements and a dearth of young workers in the pipeline to replace them.

For the latter group, Cocchiola noted that skilled, high-paying careers in advanced manufacturing can be a gateway to the middle class for young people entering the workforce.

Many in attendance Wednesday morning expressed  hope that the Hamden experiment could prove a model for school systems throughout Connecticut to emulate in preparing workers for skilled manufacturing careers.

“What this is all about today is making sure we have a workforce that’s ready for the 21st century,” said Lamont.

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