Students put on the fast track to high-paying jobs
Thanks to a cooperative effort by local industry, high school students in St. Charles Parish have been given the chance to jumpstart their careers in the field of process technology. Dow, Motiva, Shell, and Valero have all banded together to sponsor PTEC 101, which gives interested seniors from both Hahnville and Destrehan hands-on experience in operating plant equipment.Monsanto has also been sitting in on course-related meetings.
Besides giving the students the opportunity to earn college credit, the course also prepares students for an eventual job as a process operator, where they will control and monitor the systems that run chemical plants.
“The whole point of the program is getting high school students a job in an industrial setting by giving them training in a select skill base,” said Tommy Faucheux, who serves as the public information officer of Dow’s St. Charles branch. “We partnered with the school system because many of those students already know the route they are going to go and that may not include a four-year college. This gives them the opportunity to get a great job locally.”
During the five-day a week course, students receive an overview of an operator’s job that includes studying job responsibilities and duties, learning about personnel and environmental safety, and getting accustomed to workplace equipment. Interested students must have at least a 2.0 GPA to be considered and must have passed both the language and arts and math sections of the high school exit exam.
Throughout the fall semester, the students take PTEC 1010, while during the spring they tackle PTEC 2030, which deals with plant safety. At the completion of each term, the courses are placed on the student’s transcript, which gives them six hours of credit at Louisiana Technical College to use towards their two-year associates’ degree in process technology.
“Going through the program is something that really looks good on a resume,” Faucheux said. “The skills they learn are the skills we want in an employee, and we are filling a pipeline of good candidates.”
Along with paying the student’s college registration fees, the four industry sponsors also award two-year scholarships to LTC for those who excel in the program. Last year, nine students applied for scholarships and all nine received them. In addition, the sponsors donate funding in the form of grants to pay for the purchase of equipment used to support the curriculum and offer field experience by allowing the students to visit their worksites. As if that wasn’t enough, the sponsors send employees to the Satellite Center for expert lectures.
“That field experience allows the students to get up close and personal with the job,” said Susan Boudreaux, who serves as the school-to-career specialist for St. Charles Parish. “Their funding also gives the students exposure to the equipment, software, and instruction they need.”
Because of the vast array of experience and future benefit that this course offers, it is hard to believe that only 10 students are actually taking part in the program.
“I think we are all disappointed that more students aren’t taking advantage of this opportunity,” Boudreaux said. “But we would rather have a class of 10 quality students than a class of 20 students where only half are really interested in the program.”
Destrehan senior Danielle Luque, who is the only female in the program, agrees.
“All the students want to be here and they choose to be here,” Luque said. “That just makes the learning experience better.”
While many in the class became interested in the course because members of their family work in industry, some just felt that the experience was too good to pass up.
“I don’t have any family in the industry, but I just wanted to learn more about it,” Destrehan senior Brian Kahrs said. “This is giving me a chance to get an idea of what process technology is about.”
And it is that learning process that is constantly broadening the students understanding of all the duties a process operator actually has.
“I never realized how much control an operator has,” Hahnville’s Valderbill Jackson said. “They have a lot of stuff to do and that is what keeps the job interesting.”
Not to mention, there is plenty of money to be made in the position.
“Every time we get a visitor, they tell us how much money they make,” Hahnville senior Aaron Cortez said. “A lot of people are now reaching retirement, so it should be easy to get a good high-paying job.”
Giving local students a shot at those high-paying jobs is what the program is about in the first place.
“This is great for the community,” Faucheux said. “We hire people from all over, but this gives us a chance to give those good jobs to local people.”
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