Building Trades

Houses are going up! The weather has been great for students participating in the Building Trades Career Academies. All houses were fully enclosed by Christmas break, which is right on target for the year. The above pictures show all four building projects at different stages throughout the semester.

A fourth site was added for the 2005-06 school year. In collaboration with Decatur County Development Corporation and Leon Community Development Corporation, a new program site at Leon was established with students from Central Decatur, Mormon Trail and Wayne of Corydon participating (top left). Students from Creston, Corning, and East Union are constructing a home in Creston this year (top right), sponsored by Creston Community Schools. Clarke and Murray students are constructing a home in Osceola (bottom left), sponsored by Clarke Co. Economic Development Corporation. Students from Red Oak, Shenandoah and Nishna Valley participate in the academy at Red Oak, sponsored by the Red Oak Foundation (bottom right). A total of 85 students are enrolled in this program, and can complete 30 credit hours over a 2 year period of time. They can then transfer into our college Building Trades program and complete an Associate of Applied Science degree in as little as 12 months. This program is recognized by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

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Automotive Mechanics

Demand is high for automotive mechanics to perform maintenance and light repairs on today’s high-tech automobiles. Our Auto Mechanics Career Academy remains popular every year with near maximum enrollment. Jeff Sorensen and Steve Schmalzried serve as instructors for the program held at the Creston SWCC campus. High school students from Corning, Creston, East Union, Lenox, Nodaway Valley, Orient-Macksburg, and Winterset participate. Students have participated and placed high each year in the Ford AAA Contest and the DMACC Auto Skills contest.

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Business Systems Networking

The Business Systems Networking program is designed to provide the graduate with the skills necessary to install, configure, manage and maintain a network operating system. Students from Creston, East Union, Orient-Macksburg, Nishna Valley, Red Oak, Shenandoah, Stanton, Clarke and Murray participate at one of three locations in Area 14 – Osceola, Red Oak or Creston. Southwestern’s Business Systems Networking career academy has been expanded this year to include CISCO training. First year courses include Computer Hardware Basics, Computer Software Basics, Windows XP Professional and Windows Server. Second year courses include CISCO Networking and CISCO Routers. Loyal Winborn serves as instructor at Creston and Bob Deter is the instructor at Red Oak.

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Health

A Health Career Academy was added during the 2004-05 school year, and is now in its third year. This program allows juniors and seniors to explore Health Careers and earn articulation credit and/or dual credit in three different health areas: Nursing, Medical Transcription or EMT. First year classes include Health I (Careers), Health II (Certified Nursing Assistant), and Medical Terminology. Second year classes include Pharmacology Basics, Intro to Computers, Medical Transcription I and Software Applications. Classes are held at five locations in Region 14: Red Oak Tech Center, Creston High School and SWCC, Clarke High School, Central Decatur and Mount Ayr. This career academy is being made possible through collaborative efforts between the schools, Southwestern Community College, Montgomery County Hospital, and Greater Community Hospital.

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