Sean Crawford and Matt Seklecki are seniors at Westfield Technical Academy working in coops. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – Sean Crawford, of Granville, is a senior at Westfield Technical Academy in the Electrical Wiring shop. He has been working in a coop at Mount Holyoke College doing electrical maintenance since March, 2016.
“I love it. I’m getting exposed to a lot of things over there I don’t see in school,” Crawford said. He said those include building controls, air handlers, “more commercial stuff, whereas they focus mostly on house wiring in the shop,” he said.
He also likes the dynamics at work. “It’s more of an adult atmosphere. A lot different than school,” he said. He is also learning how to build a relationship with the boss, and be prepared for work. His goal is to get his electrical license. “I’d like to further my career, take classes and get my classroom hours in,” he said. He also serves on the advisory board for his shop.
Matt Seklecki, a senior from Southwick in Manufacturing Tech, is on a coop at DNS Manufacturing in Southwick.
He said he has been there since January, 2016. He started working there after school part-time, and then began his coop over the summer.
“They mostly have me doing manual operations and tooling operations,” Seklecki said. “I’ve liked it a lot – the people I work with , the jobs they’ve given me to do. It’s been a good push, but not too overwhelming at the same time, he added.”
Seklecki said he is planning to go to STCC for a mechanical engineering degree part-time while he is still working.
“So far, I’ve talked to my boss, and he said to come in after graduation and continue working,” Seklecki said.
Both Crawford and Seklecki said it was a little difficult juggling academics and coops at first.
“Not this year, but working after school was a little harder. This year’s been a lot easier, I feel,” Seklecki said.
“This year’s been a lot easier. I kind of struggled when I first got on coop,” Crawford agreed. For him, part of the difficulty is the commute. Living in Granville, and needing to be in South Hadley at 7 a.m., he has an hour drive every day.
Seklecki agreed that the extended days took some getting used to. “Getting out of the idea of a 5-6 hour day. Now you have 8 hour days,” he said.
As for what they like best about the coop experience, they both agreed that getting paid was a big part of it.
“The money,” Seklecki said.
“Getting a paycheck, and the wider experiences,” Crawford said.
Seklecki agreed. “You can only do so much in shop. You get out there, and there’s so much more,” he said.
Amanda Hockenberry, a senior from Westfield in Manufacturing Tech is in a coop at Peerless Precision. She began there last summer after her junior year.
She said she does inspection and some of the gaging control for the company. What she likes best is earning money and the learning experience.
Hockenberry said the hardest part is “figuring things out for yourself.” She said next year, she wants to stay there and work full-time, probably going to college for night classes. She said she wants to continue in Manufacturing Tech, and later enter the sales portion of the business.
For her, it hasn’t been that hard juggling the coop and academics. “Not really. Almost half of the employees at Peerless are from Westfield Tech,” she said.
Westfield Tech Coop students (L-R) Sean Crawford, Devon Doiron, Matt Seklecki, Amanda Hockenberry, Inna Anipko. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Devon Doiron, from Granville, is a senior in Collision Tech, working in a coop at Southwick Collision Center. He does detailing on cars and buffing, non-structural repairs, he said.
Peter Taloumis, Westfield Technical Academy’s career technical education director, said Doiron is being modest. “I’ve seen some of the work he’s done – beautiful!” he said.
Doiron said about the coop experience, “It’s better than being in shop.” He said he likes getting paid for it, and that it’s hands on, he gets to do more. He actually started working at the Southwick Collision Center, which is owned by his father, Todd Doiron four or five years ago, emptying trash. He’s been on coop there since the second term of his junior year. “I like the people I work with,” he said.
Nex year, Doiron anticipates working full-time at the business, and taking night classes at HCC. Eventually, he said he wants to go to Westfield State for business.
For him, the hardest part of the job is the time constriction. “Trying to get a car done for a customer, staying on schedule.” As for academics, he hasn’t struggled, he said.
Doiron has also participated in SkillsUSA, and will compete for the third time this year in his area of competency. He earned gold in districts the last two years, and last year also got silver in States.
Inna Anipko, a senior from Westfield in Business Tech, has been in a coop with Aero Fastener since the second half of her junior year.
“I love it. My company’s a great environment, and really supportive of what I’m doing,” Anipko said. She said she enjoys using the skills she’s learned and putting them into practice.
“I work a lot on the data base, and do big spreadsheets in Excel. Whatever they give me. I like working with numbers,” Anipko said, adding that she’s had a smooth transition going into the coop. “We have the week off, week on. My schedule works very well,” she said. She also hasn’t struggled with academics, being the top student in her class.
Anipko said she will be attending STCC in the fall for her associate’s degree in Business Administration, and later transferring to a 4-year college. “That’s the great thing about my job. They’re very understanding,” she said. She expects to be able to continue working while going to school.
Anipko’s favorite part is working in business, and, “finally, using all the skills I’ve learned,” she said.
Auto Tech teacher Bob Thibeault and senior Elina Bich, on coop from his shop at Balise Lexus. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Elina Bich, also a senior from Westfield is in Auto Tech. Bich just started a coop at Balise Lexus at the end of December, after interning there since the end of October.
Bich said she bills out the parts for cars that come in, and sells parts, clothes and accessories at the retail counter. She also takes phone calls for wholesale, and sometimes complaints or questions.
“If we can answer them, we do,” she said. What she likes about about the coop is the environment. “Everyone there is very, very nice. I like that fact that I still work with car parts, though I don’t do the heavy work I did here.” She said for Auto Tech, that included fixing cars, and doing mechanical and electrical work.
The hardest part of the coop, she admitted, is probably customers who are a little difficult.”If we can’t take care of them ourselves, we do it as a team. We try to please the customers, so they leave happy,” she said, adding with pride that Balise Lexus is third out of the Balise dealerships in the state, and ninth in the country.
Currently, Bish is enrolled in HCC in the fall for psychology. She plans on getting an associate’s degree and transferring to Westfield State. Eventually, she said she would like to be a children’s and family therapist.
“I hope to stay at Balise Lexus for as long as I can. It’s a very good job, and good people,” Bich said.
Bob Thibault, Auto Technology teacher at Westfield Technical Academy said that he has six seniors on coop, and a couple of more that can go out. He also has three juniors with jobs, just waiting to get the paperwork done.
“Coops are a huge part of school to work. It makes it a whole lot easier for students. Balise is a great employer, a great ambiance. We place with virtually every company in the area,” Thibault said. He said his students are at car dealerships and working on diesel trucks.
“They would spend $30,000 on a post-secondary career training school. That’s a lot of money for a year to 16 months. Instead of spending $30,000 for a school, they’ll spend it on tools,” Thibault said.
At the School Committee meeting held at Westfield Technical Academy Monday night, principal Joseph Langone said that coop placements are on track to meet or exceed placements last year. He said they are increasing the number of senior and junior internships.
School Committee member William Duval added, “Students are being trained for the world that’s really there, not the world that’s not there.”
“I’m so proud of them all,” Taloumis said of the students in the coop program.
