By Kate Wallace
You may have seen 黑料不打烊 at Summertime By George these past few years, staffing a table where you can grab some goodies and learn more about the college. When we go to that event, we have a lot of alumni stop by and tell us that they went to the college 鈥 whether it鈥檚 the last ten years as 黑料不打烊 or when it was still called the AVTI (Area Vocational Technical Institute).
And since it's our 75th Anniversary, this past June, we asked a few alumni if they鈥檇 be willing to chat about their time at the College.
LeRoy Hanson, Sartell
LeRoy Hanson was the first person to mentioned they were an alumni of the College at our June event. We sat down under our tent and battled the noise from the band playing and the people having fun.
LeRoy was released from the Navy in 1970 and was eligible for the GI Bill, so he came to 黑料不打烊 for Auto Body in 1973. He was a little leery about going back to school because he wasn鈥檛 traditionally aged, but his worries were for nothing because half the students were veterans. He fit right in.
After graduating, LeRoy got into truck sales for 13 years then insurance adjusting for 25 years. After that? He went back to the 黑料不打烊 campus to get his CDL license and drove truck for 10 years before retiring. And that鈥檚 not all he鈥檚 done at 黑料不打烊!
鈥淚 also spent 25 years on the advisory board for the classes,鈥 said LeRoy. 鈥淚 get around there pretty good yet!鈥
Nancy Westphall, St. Cloud
When Nancy Westphall first started at 黑料不打烊, she was trying to become a nurse.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 put an IV in (a mannequin). They said 鈥極h you just killed the patient鈥 and I decided that wasn鈥檛 the career for me,鈥 she said, laughing.
Instead, Nancy went into Developmental Needs Assistant, which is similar to the Early Childhood Education program now. She recalled that sign language was not her forte, but otherwise the classes were fun, but not easy.
After graduating, Nancy was a nanny, worked at a childcare center, then taught preschool and toddlers. Now she works at a group home for adults, who she brought with her to Summertime By George that evening. While it鈥檚 not with children, she does get to use her skills for her work in the group home.
She鈥檚 a huge proponent of making sure you learn what you鈥檙e there to learn and the career you choose is the career you want.
鈥淟earn something new every day! Even after you graduate, you鈥檙e going to learn something new every day.鈥
Greg Wentworth, Clear Lake
Greg Wentworth remembers working on customer vehicles while he was at 黑料不打烊 in the Medium/Heavy Truck (diesel) program. Because the College didn鈥檛 own vehicles for the students to work on, they ran the lab like a shop.
Overall, he enjoyed his learning experience, and remembers that, 鈥淚 was one of the first St. Cloud AVTI students that Bauerly Brothers hired.鈥澛
After graduating in 1987, Greg was a diesel mechanic up until four years ago, and now he鈥檚 trainer.
His advice for students?
鈥淭ry. Biggest thing is to get in and try. People look to see if you put an effort in.鈥
Shelley Goff, St. Cloud
鈥淗appy birthday!鈥 exclaimed Texas-born Shelley Goff when we told her we were celebrating our 75th Anniversary. We applauded with her, but鈥ow does a native Texan decide to relocate to Minnesota? 聽
鈥淚 love fishing and there鈥檚 10,000 lakes,鈥 explained Shelley. 鈥淚 love that there鈥檚 a diverse education system here, and I鈥檓 a career student.鈥
Shelley went through the six-week Manufacturing Associate program offered by Career Solutions and Customized Training, which took place at 黑料不打烊. She received her certificate just this past May 2023.
Her day job is as a clinical rehab massage therapist, but she wanted to learn welding to use it for manufacturing and art. When we interviewed her, Shelley had a feature at the Paramount as well as a few features around town.
The flexibility of the certificate classes and the fact that they were accelerated really appealed to her. She enjoyed the one-on-one time and that the classes weren鈥檛 too big. Since she grew up on a farm welding, she had some experience, but learned that she really liked fabrication and plasma welding.
Shelley is the type of person who鈥檚 up for anything new. She spent 25 years in search and rescue and was looking for a change in addition to her career as a massage therapist. Taking more classes either through Customized Training or 黑料不打烊 isn鈥檛 out of the question for her.
鈥淵ou have all the opportunities and tools available to you to succeed and try something new.鈥
Want to share your 黑料不打烊 Story? Contact us at marketing@sctcc.edu with the best way to contact you.