Registration is open for PCC’s Summer Institutes, a summer education program that educates students in the trade of their choice, working in conjunction with Fort Lewis College and the Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative.
According to the Education Collaborative’s Executive Director Jessica Morrison, the first summer institute was started with Fort Lewis four years ago during COVID. The first year, 15 students registered, but now the program has slots for 50 students.
“It was really this idea of how to have students engage alongside industry in jobs to learn about environmental jobs, forestry, things like that,” Morrison said.
Students who enroll in the ECI environmental program this summer will stay on Fort Lewis College’s campus for five days and learn a trade while exploring what higher education and trade classes have to offer.
“This is really exciting because they also get to learn about all the opportunities that are available to them as future, potential college students if they are interested,” Morrison said. “They stay in the residence halls, they get to engage in some aspects of Fort Lewis College, facilities and labs.”
The students also get connected with professionals in their industry of choice to visit different sites where work is being done in that industry.
“ECI is going to be focusing on a project around water quality that will be happening in Silverton,” Morrison said. “There’s also a forest ecology project that will be happening in Vallecito, and they also utilize soil to learn about soil health and growth as well.”
Other programs offered by the Summer Institute’s programming are Behind the Drywall and a health sciences program, which focuses on health sciences and careers in the medical/health field. The institutes are all open to incoming students in freshman through 12th grade who attend the Collaborative’s partner schools.
Morrison said their partner schools are school districts in Bayfield, Ignacio, Durango, Mancos, Silverton, Dolores, Dove Creek and Cortez.
“That (Behind the Drywall) is a specific focus on our building trades career and college pathways, and the focus is specific skills within building trades such as electrical, plumbing, heavy machinery and welding. We built out this program because it was really an identified need in our community,” Morrison said. “There are so many jobs that are empty, that need workers in HVAC, electrical and plumbing specifically, and none of our school districts currently teach those courses.”
The five-day Behind the Drywall Summer Institute is a day program at PCC where students are taught entry level skills in the areas mentioned. Students who enjoy the program and wish to learn more can enroll in PCC’s level two version of the program during the school semester, which is being piloted this year.
Many students are even hired by the businesses they work with upon graduation.
“There have been students that have been hired directly to work with industry leaders in that field, and the industry specifically has been training the students themselves.”
Registration is free, and students are given a stipend of $250 to attend the institutes.
“We have a focus on supporting students,” Morrison said. “We know there’s a certain population of students out there that have to work in the summers to build financial income for themselves or potentially even their families. We still want to make sure that all students have access to our summer programming, and it wasn’t enough for it to be free. We pay them for their time, which is really important to us.”
Morrison shared that the institutes are a great way for students to learn about which careers they may or may not be interested in, and can help them grow as they begin seeking what path they will take upon graduation. She mentioned it is also a great way for students to get to know other students in the region who are interested in the same career path as them.
“It’s really exciting to be offering summer institutes where students from across the Southwest region get to come together and bond and build friendships,” Morrison said.
The ECI summer institute will take place from June 10-14 at Fort Lewis with partners Soil Lab and Mountain Studies, while Behind the Drywall will take place June 3-7 on PCC’s campus.
The Health Careers Institute will be held from June 4-7 with partners Fort Lewis College Health & Human Performance Department, FLC Nursing Program, Common Spirit, Upper Pine Fire & EMS, La Plata County Public Health, Tomsic Physical Therapy, Shining Mountain Health, CSU Extension – Nutrition and Animas Surgical Hospital.
Registration will fill up quickly, but students can register until all 50 slots are full.
Students can register online at www.swcoedcollaborative.org/events.
