CTC's vital role

The Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center provides secondary and post-secondary technical training that prepares students to enter the work force. CTC also works with area manufacturers to tailor training programs to their needs.

Two recent examples demonstrate that CTC is providing the kind of innovative training that should serve its 1,200 students well.

One of those students, 17-year-old Bruce Matlock of Scott City, recently won the first-place prize in a statewide anti-littering contest called "No MOre Trash!" He produced his 30-second anti-littering video for his CTC broadcast production class.

His commercial showed how litter can affect lakes and streams, making the issue even more personal in a state filled with fishermen.

He plans to put the $200 prize money toward a laptop computer that will be useful to his future film studies at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill.

Also innovative is a new class that exists nowhere else in the U.S. In the fall, CTC will offer the first-ever aviation program for high school students. The course includes five hours of flight time and 10 hours of observation time that count toward a pilot's license. Students will rotate through various jobs at the airport.

The idea came from a ground school offered at Jackson High School. Don Grossheider, who has had a commercial pilot's license for 20 years, will teach the course. Students who complete the program will have an advantage if pursing a military career or entering an aviation program at a college.

These are among the ways CTC is playing a vital role in the community.