Survivors and Thrivers: Career and Technology Education at “The William D” in Wayne-Westland!

There is much discussion these days about the importance of skilled trades and the role of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in Michigan. In this three part series, Karl interviews three veteran and amazing teachers from the William D. Ford Career Tech Center in the Wayne-Westland Public Schools.

Jim Schirmer (Automotive Technology), Zack McClean (Electronics/Alternative Energy) and JC Irvine (Programming and Gaming Design) share their insights on topics ranging from the public perception of CTE, Employability Skills, curriculum shifts over time and the connections between CTE and Project-based learning. Michigan’s career-tech high schools are amazing assets that have gone through rough times. Hear how this spotlight school has survived and continues to flourish!

More about them can be found by clicking here.

Karl Klimek continues a discussion with Jim Schirmer, Zack McClean and JC Irvine, three veteran teachers from “The William D” in Wayne-Westland. They discuss project-based learning, current and prior programs that are offered through the school. They are involved with 13 different school programs in the region, including public, private and parochial schools.

At the tech center, students are learning multiple skills as they study welding, for example. They work with local businesses on a project, to find a solution and then engineer the project based on the solution in conjunction with the business.