Superintendent James Brosnan, left, senior Camryn Moran, Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, state Rep. John Barrett III and Darin Almeida cut the ribbon on the HVAC lab.
Tutwiler gets a tour of the HVAC building with Mayor Jennifer Macksey and others.
Tutwiler makes a point.
Ninth-graders are going through the exploratory program, during which they rotate between the course offerings before selecting their preferred programs.
Some of the students will make up first HVAC class that will graduate in 2028.
Tutwiler tours the CAD program.
The standalone HVAC building was completed this year through a $3.1 million state grant.
Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler was in the Berkshires to celebrate STEM Week. He toured McCann after a morning event at the Basketball Hall of Fame and stopped at Clarksburg School before heading east.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Camryn Moran said her grade school teachers had tried to discourage her from attending a vocational school because they thought she would not receive the education necessary to attend selective colleges.
"However, I didn't see this unique style of education as a disadvantage, I saw it as a way to broaden my horizons, inside and outside of the classroom," said the McCann Technical School senior on Wednesday. "It was apparent after my first year at McCann that I had made the right decision."
Standing before the school's new HVAC building, Moran said she's been trained and certified through the computer-assisted drawing course in complex programs being used now on college campuses.
"McCann has played a pivotal role in shaping me into a well-rounded, knowledgeable and compassionate individual choosing to attend McCann has undoubtedly been one of the most significant decisions I have made on my educational journey," she said.
Her speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new program is exactly the kind of inspiring and uplifting testimony to STEM education that state Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler likes to hear, and why they were all gathered on a warm and windy afternoon at the vocational school.
The secretary and other state officials have been visiting schools and educational events around the state as part of STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering and Math) Week, with the theme "STEM Starts Now." He'd traveled on Wednesday from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame where more than 350 students from 12 schools across central and Western Massachusetts attended the annual Manufacturing Innovation Challenge. He later went to Clarksburg School to hear about class that developed ideas for the town's municipal vulnerability plan.
"We really want to lift that up this week, and a big piece of this, of this effort, really involves connecting students to stem through Career and Technical Education at our comprehensive high schools as well as our career tech ed schools like McCann," he said.
Tutwiler joined Superintendent James Brosnan, Darin Almeida of Laureyns United Heating & Cooling Inc., and Moran to highlight the opening of the school's new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning laboratory, which was made possible by a $3.1 million state Skills Capital grant.
"Investments made by the Healey-Driscoll administration made it possible to build this beautiful facility, this 5,500 square-foot HVAC lab that will provide technical education and training to 100 students each year who attend McCann Tech," he said. "But also providing opportunities for students through the after dark program and through adult learning and education for them to engage and learn and become certified in an industry that is on fire right now. ...
"This lab, this incredible building right behind me, creates a workforce pipeline so that students can find meaningful careers, while also allowing our economy to grow."
Almeida, a member of the school's advisory committee and consultant on the program, said the need for HVAC technicians stretches beyond the Berkshires.
"We stand here today immeasurably grateful that McCann Technical High School as well as our local and state officials have listened to and responded to our pleas for help in providing young men and women in our community with education and training in HVAC so that we can bolster our workforces," he said.
"Once students graduate from this program and head out it in the world, they will never go hungry and through the teachings of this program, not only will they possess the tools that will provide them with limitless opportunity and financial stability, but personal gratification as well as they will find that their knowledge and skills will perpetually provide so many that are in need with positive result."
The dearth in HVAC professionals had been highlighted as a critical workforce need the Berkshire County Workforce Blueprint. There is no other HVAC education in the county.
Tutwiler and state and local officials, area educational and business leaders toured the new building, which has a large classroom, two labs, an exterior lab for installations, and storage facilities. Students will be working with the newest technology.
"Many of our providers donated this equipment," said Alameida. "This is the most modern and current equipment."
Tutwiler got speak with some of the first potential students, a group of freshmen currently going through the exploratory program. They showed him some of the new things they'd learned, including 14-year-old Gaberiel Sinopoli, who soldered his first copper pipe.
The secretary also toured the inside of the school, particularly the CAD program, which used some of the $50,000 Career Technical Initiative Planning grant awarded by the state for new computers and software.
"It's been a real honor to be here to highlight the efforts to support schools and institutions to upgrade technology and instructional lab spaces, expand career programs for young people and adults alike, and increase capacity in workforce training programs across Massachusetts," said Tutwiler.
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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.
Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.
"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.
The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.
The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar.
Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.
She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.
"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."
The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.
"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."
They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.
"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.
As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen.
Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.
"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."
Jake Eberwein showed the committee sections of the nbess.org website, including the resources page, which will be key to keeping residents informed about the study’s findings and collecting information from those residents. click for more
The planes were paper, the buildings cardboard and Main Street was a hallway at Colegrove Park Elementary School, but the setup represented nearly two weeks of creative research and design by the pupils in the public schools' 21st Century Summer Program.
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