The Poplar Bluff Technical Career Center has churned out thousands of students during its 55 years of existence.
The Center — which was kickstarted with just a handful of class offerings in the curriculum — has evolved and enrollment continues to increase.
What once began with a construction class and a few others, now has evolved into an outlet for those wanting to learn a trade in lieu of a postsecondary education — with areas of emphasis ranging from graphic design to welding.
The Center now offers 14 programs, and the evolution is palpable.
Director Charles Kinsey said 55 years of existence speaks volumes on the students, the industries, the 10 schools that currently are involved and, of course, the instructors and program coordinators.
“On average, we have about 130 seniors [each year]. And this last year was no exception,” Kinsey said. “For the past 10 years, we have begun to modernize so we are in sync with the local industry that we represent with our programs.”
Creating a true-to-form trade setting has been vital in the evolution.
Added Kinsey: “We have been modernizing to make sure the kids are working with the same equipment they are going to see when they go into these industries.”
Total enrollment for this past year was 288 adult and high school students, he said.
“I think we started the year at 309, and then had some kids move, and stuff like that,” he said.
While data for the 2021-22 academic year is still being computed, 212 seniors graduated last year. From the 2016-17 academic year until last summer, 520 students have graduated, and the Center has operated at its current location since 1967.
“We are making sure that we are on the front edge of any kind of curve or new and exciting type of industries that may be coming to our area. We don’t want to be behind the curve,’ Kinsey said. “If we are in a situation where students are learning something that is out of date or no longer relevant, or we don’t have programs for what’s new, then we are not doing a good service to our home community and surrounding communities.”
The latest program to be instituted, Kinsey said, is more on the technological side.
“That is the evolution. We are going to continue to find new programs and add new ones. Our most recent additions are computer sciences, which is a lot of coding,” Kinsey said. “And we have added high-school esthetician and barbering this past year, so that we can continue to add to that area in our community.”
Funding primarily comes via the federal programs’ grants, which has enabled the growth and sustainability. There isn’t one overriding program, as all programs continue to draw interest.
“When you look at that [at the grants], you try to make sure you have an active advisory committee. We have people from those industries come in and advise,” Kinsey said. “That is one why reason why we have a wide variety.”
Roger Hanner is a former student of the Career Center and a current Poplar Bluff Board of Education member, and he said that finding a trade is equally as important as a college degree.
“A trade is just as important as college,” Hanner said. “You can learn electricity, heat and air or learn body work. Those are careers.. We need people to learn and have those careers. It isn’t all about college. There is a big demand right now for those trades.”
Hanner and his classmates helped build a house during their high-school days.
“I was a student and took one of the career classes. The instructor was fantastic. We built a house over in Bluff Estates. At least the house is still standing,” Hanner said with a chuckle. “It was just us...a bunch of country guys.”
Hanner owns Hanner Septic and Well Inspections and the Poplar Bluff Vault Company.
“It all stems back to the Career Center,” he said.
For a little more than 19 years, Susan Chronister served as the cosmetology program coordinator for the Career Center.
A lot of things can change in nearly two decades, she said, and adding additional personnel was crucial.
“When I started, the program had only been open for one year,” Chronister said. “They had just started to welcome customers. It has changed and grown quite a bit. We changed it so there were two classes. We added a nail class. We added esthetics. We added a barbering class right before I left.”
While the occupation is one that provides job security, Chronister said she is taken aback by the modernization of the program: a far cry from just having one instructor and a substitute.
Added Chronister: “When you are in there living it, you don’t notice it. Then you look back and see how it happened. We always tried to keep it where one instructor could handle it. We usually had two instructors on staff, but if you had more than 25 students enrolled at one time, both instructors had to be there all the time. We did that for a while, and it really put us in a bind. It is difficult to get substitutes. It has changed. They have a lot more high-school students.”
For more information on the Career Center, visit tcc.poplarbluffschools.net/home.