OHIO — Emma Burkey likes to work with her hands. The Mayfield High School senior has her eyes set on studying mechanical engineering in college.

What You Need To Know

  • For five decades, northeast Ohio high school students have had the opportunity to earn college credit and explore quality careers through the Excel TECC program

  • Excel TECC is one of the largest career tech compacts in the state of Ohio made up of 22 programs, four counties, 10 school districts and more than 1,000 students who earn college credit their junior and senior years of high school

  • In recent years there’s been a shift in focus on the importance of the trades in our workforce, but this program is also for students who plan to work in professions that require four-year degrees

“My favorite part is probably the problem-solving aspect," she said.

She’s ahead of the curve thanks to Excel TECC and its CAAD Engineering Technology program.

Excel TECC is one of the largest career tech compacts in the state of Ohio made up of 22 programs, four counties, 10 school districts and more than 1,000 students who earn college credit their junior and senior years of high school.

“I’ve gone to some college tours where I end up going and helping the kids in the colleges with the programs that we’ve learned in our first year," Burkey said.

On the day Spectrum News visited, the class created stencils of Mayfield’s Wildcat for the cheerleaders. The mascot stencils will be used to paint driveways across the district to promote school spirit.

“I always knew I liked science, math and art and I didn’t really know how to apply all of those until I heard about this program and I decided just to test it out and see if I liked it and it turns out that I love this program and I found out my true love of engineering," Burkey said.

Burkey is one of three girls currently in the program, and the girls made Mayfield history last year by winning bronze for their “Umbrella Project” in the Career Pathways - Industrial and Engineering Technology SkillsUSA National Championship.

“I realized, I was like 'Oh, great we got third at Nationals. We should have got first. We should have worked even harder, put in more time,'" she said. "But then he told us like, 'Hey you’re the first team ever to get a medal.' And I was so amazed. I was like, I could not be prouder of myself."

For this engineering challenge, each student created a prototype of an umbrella holder using computer software and 3D printers.

“We designed fixtures to hold up umbrellas around the Great Lakes Mall, and these umbrellas that we created the fixtures for had art painted on them by other high school students," Burkey said. “Our first three places were actually girls, which is kind of cool knowing that we only have three girls in the class.”

Burkey said Excel TECC is a great option for any student, even those who aren’t sure what they’d like to do after high school. This program allows her to explore her interests and reaffirm her career goals.

The director of Excel TECC, Nate Bishko, said these programs are over-applied for. There’s a lot of interest from students. He explained that its post-secondary placement rate hovers around 97%, which means 97% of graduates either begin immediate employment, go to college or join the military.

One of the things Bishko emphasized is the incorrect idea people tend to have of career tech education where it’s about trades like welding and cosmetology only.

In that misconception, the programs are only offered at an all-day vocational school. Excel TECC is different. Students from various districts learn their core academics at their home school for part of the day, and then are bussed to whichever district houses the specific program they’re in for the other part of the day.

“In my 12 years I’m seeing it happen now," Bishko said. "The old mindset of vocational education is changing and schools are sending us their best and brightest. In fact, almost every year we’ve had a valedictorian from one of our sending districts."

Another shift Bishko mentioned is this refocus on the importance of trades and that not everyone needs a traditional college education to have a great career.