Each year, Questar III BOCES celebrates Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month®, a time to celebrate our students and the opportunities CTE provides. While our students are learning the technical skills required to fill employment needs across our region, state, and country, they’re also developing the soft skills to become great employees and leaders. When a student chooses a CTE program, they’re choosing more than just job training; they’re choosing to be prepared for what comes next, whether that’s college, advanced training, or an immediate career in the workforce. We’re honored to provide them with that foundation.
Join us throughout the month of February as we celebrate all things CTE. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn to learn more about our programs and our students.
Kaiden Klein is a senior in the Heavy Equipment program at Marilyn A. Noonan School at Durham from Taconic Hills CSD.
Kaiden Klein is a senior in the Questar III BOCES Heavy Equipment Operations and Maintenance program at Marilyn A. Noonan School at Durham from Taconic Hills Central School District.
Heavy Equipment students earn several certifications before graduation, including OSHA 10, OSHA 30, Stop the Bleed, Flagger, UDig NY, and more. Students can also earn their CDL License if they are of age and take the test before graduation, something Kaiden hopes to take advantage of.
Outside of classwork done at the school, students participate in community projects to earn work-based learning hours. A few projects Kaiden has been a part of include drainage projects at the Durham Center Museum and the Potter Hollow Schoolhouse, creating roadways and a pond for the East Durham Fire Company, and redefining access paths and roadways at the Cairo Cemetery. These are great opportunities to work on their technical skills while also developing soft skills in the process.
“One that really stuck with me is the schoolhouse,” Kaiden said. “We had a lot of conversations with them and talked about how they wanted the job done. It’s a key detail, you can’t always go into a job going off the paper. What are the fine details that they didn’t write down? These are good skills to have.”
Hear what else Kaiden had to say about his CTE experience in this video:
“I started there two years ago, and I figured out that it’s something that I love,” said Kaiden. “I work as hard as I can to stay there, and it’s one of my favorite places to be.”