Fairplex a school without walls for vocational and technical students

POMONA -- To many people Fairplex is a place to have a hot dog and ride a gigantic Ferris wheel during the L.A. County Fair.

For dozens of teens and young adults Fairplex is a school campus.

Fairplex "is the ultimate community classroom," said Mark Maine, Pomona Unified School District's director of regional occupational programs.

Young people enrolled in programs through the Career & Technical Education Center, or CTEC, take classes on the grounds of Fairplex where any of its facilities can serve as a classroom or lab, said Dan Harden, director of education for Fairplex.

"We call it a classroom without walls," he said.

Students are able to take courses where they can develop marketable vocational and technical skills in any of six career pathways: agriculture, arts, automotive, business, construction, and environmental and regenerative studies.

CTEC, a program of the Fairplex's Education Foundation, runs in partnership with the San Antonio Regional Occupational Program, which serves Pomona and Bonita unified school districts.

The program meets state standards so students earn vocational education credit for their course work, Harden said.

Fairplex's Education Foundation supports the program by raising the necessary money to operate and Fairplex provides materials and access to facilities where students can get the hands-on experiences that will prepare them for their careers, he said.

That means students have access to places such as the kitchen and front desk of the Sheraton Suites Fairplex, the galleries of the Millard Sheets Gallery or the vehicles and equipment of Fairplex.

"What we offer here (schools) could not offer in the classroom," Harden said. "We are in the real-world workplace schools so often talk about."

Harden has hired top-notch instructors in their fields to teach the classes but they aren't the only ones doing the teaching.

Students have access to Fairplex professionals and journeymen tradesmen as well as leaders of local businesses with years of experience willing to share their knowledge, said Dwight Richards, Fairplex vice president of operations.

By the time students complete the courses in their chosen career paths they will have solid technical skills they can use to secure jobs after high school. Additional training at a two-year or four-year college will lead to even better opportunities, Harden said.

Students who may have struggled with academics or questioned why they needed to understand math or science often find out through their hands-on work what the practical applications of such subjects are, he said.

The idea for a program such as CTEC has been around for some time and was spearheaded by Los Angeles County Fair Association members Don Hendrick and Jil Stark, both of whom are also Education Foundation members, Richards said.

Both see the value of vocational education but noted it is something schools are rarely able to offer, he said.

"We believe we at Fairplex could fill that void," Richards said.

In the past, Fair Association President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Henwood has worked with Pomona Unified to bring students to Fairplex who had participated in a school district program, such as its hospitality course, to continue their training there, Harden said.

CTEC will allow such efforts to expand and include additional career choices, he said.

Playing a part in educating young people is not a stretch for Fairplex.

"This fits right in with our overall mission," Richards said. "Education is 50 percent of our corporate mission."

Representatives of Pomona Unified said recently the work being carried out by Fairplex and the Education Foundation is gaining strength at a critical time.

As school districts see their budgets shrink and struggle to provide new options for their students, CTEC is growing and providing much needed educational opportunities.

"The Educational Foundation has made a huge commitment," said Cindy Walkenbach, a consultant for the school district and its retired director of secondary education. "To be an educational resource ... I think they're coming back to that mission in a very big way."

The commitment to raise funds for such an educational purpose is also significant because it ensures the program will continue living, Walkenbach said.

Pomona Unified has about 40 students enrolled in CTEC courses.

More students could benefit from CTEC but transportation has been a challenge for some who find it difficult to get to Fairplex, Walkenbach said.

Another challenge is parents aren't always comfortable allowing their children to attend a class at Fairplex, she said.

To give students and parents a better understanding of what Fairplex has to offer, Pomona Unified is planning a career fair on the Fairplex property where parents and students can learn more about CTEC and the resources available to students enrolled in its courses.

"People have to see things to feel comfortable," Walkenbach said.

Bonita Unified School District has a number of students enrolled in CTEC courses and areas of concentration.

"We have students in everyone of those concentrations," said Lois Klein, assistant superintendent of educational services at Bonita Unified.

The programs have drawn the attention of both high school level students and adults alike, said Melissa Smith, senior director of student support services at Bonita Unified.

Part of the appeal is the small class sizes and the chances students have to interact closely with the instructors, Klein said.

In addition students are working in surroundings suited to the particular course of study, she said.

Students in the ceramics programs "are working in a building set up to exhibit art," Klein said, adding most high school classes don't have such resources.

"The Fairplex provides this huge campus with all these opportunities," Smith said. "It's this beautiful setting for our students."

The program has also served to help students explore potential career opportunities, Smith said.

Students have used the program to find out if a field they have an interest can be a career to pursue or if they should look elsewhere, she said.

Maine, of Pomona Unified, said CTEC offers students a great deal aside from career training.

"I think a lot of these programs give (students) confidence for the next step," Maine said.

Programs such as this one encourage students to pursue a high school diploma. Although some may have left higher education out of their plans, ROP and CTEC classes can change that, he said.

As students start to see the possibilities open to them with additional education, "it connects them to the post-secondary experience," Maine said.

He said that as the program grows there may be opportunities to launch courses in areas such as health careers as well as engineering and design, areas the district has started to focus on.

As people in the public sector and private industry hear about CTEC, they have approached Fairplex with suggestions for career programs that could be offered, Richards said.

"People are coming at us but the funding is the only challenge," he said.

One program that is being developed is conservation and wildland fire science, a course that would include training in ecology, soils, water, forests and problems such pollution and animal extinction.

The program could lead to job opportunities in government, the National Parks Service and agribusiness.