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Schools

Platt Tech Students Sharpen Skills and Smarts

From culinary arts to math, English and machine shop, the regional high school is turning out future generations of skilled trade workers.

Students at Platt Tech, the state technical high school in Milford, tend to be more serious and focused than their counterparts at comprehensive high schools, according to Platt’s Principal Patricia DeCoster.

That’s because they first choose the school and then the school chooses them, she explained.

Admission to Platt Tech and other technical high schools can be exceptionally competitive. Last spring, 927 eighth graders applied for 240 openings for the school’s freshman class.

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All of the technical high schools are regional. Students from as far east as Branford and as far west as Fairfield attend Platt Tech.

The other technical high schools in the region include Eli Whitney in Hamden, H. C. Wilcox in Meriden, Emmett O’Brien in Ansonia, andBullard Havens in Bridgeport (the Stratford School for Aviation Maintenance Technicians is administered by Bullard Havens).

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The state has convened a task force to study the financing, management and enrollment structure of the regional vocational technical high schools. Its next meetings are 10 a.m. to noon on Nov. 17 at H. C. Wilcox in Meriden and Dec. 1 at A.I. Price Technical High School in Hartford.

An earlier cost-cutting proposal, to have local school boards where the schools are located take over running the technical high schools, was dropped.

Inside Platt Tech

This seems to have little impact on the day-to-day activities at the schools. A tour of Platt Tech found the students as mature and focused on education as DeCoster indicated, although they were studying construction trades and high-tech manufacturing along with English and math.

Seniors Tori Smith and Marcus Gonzalez took time off from their architectural technologies shop to talk about their educational choices. They said their shop courses taught them how to prepare architectural drawings, follow property construction practices, and design residential and commercial buildings.

“I came here for architecture, because my father works in the field,” Marcus said.

Tori, however, chose the shop after the initial exploratory phase at the beginning of freshman year when students get to sample each of the shops to see what kind of work they do.

Other possibilities include automotive repairs, culinary arts, electrical and plumbing, heating and air conditioning, hairdressing and barbering, information technology, fashion merchandising, tourism and hospitality management, electronics and many more. A complete list can be found on the Connecticut Technical High School website.

One well kept secret is that most of the schools’ culinary arts programs operate dining halls that offer affordably priced meals prepared by the students. Milford residents Fran Merva, Joan Zauner and Flo Berrien met at Platt Tech for lunch on Nov. 15.

“We miss it when they’re closed for the summer,” said Zauner. “You never know what you’re going to get, but it’s always delicious.”

Teaching Job Skills

In the manufacturing technologies shop, Jacob Hudson of Ansonia operated a computerized precision lathe making metal parts for a project designed by Julia Navarro of West Haven in her computer assisted design class.

Jacob explained he was studying to get a National Institute of Metalworking certification, which required him to write computer programs for the precision lathes and milling machines.

Patricia Ciccone, Superintendent of the Connecticut Technical High School System, said the schools turn out graduates who have the skills needed to fill jobs that are essential for the state’s economy.

Of course, most of the students also go to college. Greg Harris of Bridgeport, a plumbing shop student, said he plans to attend a community college next year for business courses.

Teachers Have Trade Experience

Harris' teacher, Ralph Salemme, was a licensed plumber before becoming a shop instructor at Platt Tech.

“I want to make sure they know what they’re buying, which is a career in a very lucrative but sometimes difficult trade,” he said.

English teacher Sean O’Connor said he worked in marketing for a pharmaceutical company before becoming a teacher.

DeCoster said Platt students don’t neglect the academic subjects. Their CAPT scores are well above the state average.

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