Principal Czaporowski and Chef Mucciarone in the Tiger’s Pride kitchen. (Photo by Rachel Rojas)
by RACHEL ROJAS
Correspondent
WESTFIELD – Recently Westfield Vocational Technical High School underwent a decennial, which is word-of-the-day for “every ten years”, review
The report card that came back was winning indeed, and the entire school is beaming with pride at the results of their hard work.
Cooks at The Tiger’s Pride kitchen prepare for the lunch crowd. (Photo by Rachel Rojas)
The New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Technical and Career Institutions is an accrediting agency that, “assesses and promotes quality of education” by making trips to schools and thoroughly evaluating everything about them, from their infrastructure to the happiness of the students.
Tim Hallembeck, bronze medalist in the regional dining service competition. (Photo by Rachel Rojas)
While the association doesn’t give schools letter grades, they did have some very good things to say about Westfield Voc Tech in their 77-page report. Principal Stefan Czaporowski and his staff were personally complimented on the spirit and excitement they bring to their job every day, and the students were found to be happy and very engaged in learning. The school was noted for it’s excellent college preparatory programs, close ties with the community, and an exciting learning atmosphere.
Westfield Voc Tech students currently have opportunities to get college credit before they’ve even graduated high school.
In the Manufacturing Program alone a student can earn 12 credits at Springfield Technical Community College. There are also 6 credits available through a dual enrollment program run by Westfield State University where a professor comes to the school and teaches a class once a week. Last semester students could take a college level Psychology course, this semester they’re offering Comparative Ethnic Studies.
The Tiger’s Pride tables are set and ready for the lunch crowd. (Photo by Rachel Rojas)
In the future the school aims to expand their access to college credit through additional programs offered by Westfield State. If those go well, students could potentially graduate from high school with not just a diploma, but be very close to getting an associate’s degrre, as well.
“The rigor they learn by doing college work prepares our students for the real world, and that’s what we want to do,” said Czaporowski. “We want to prepare them for work or college, or both.”
Close ties with the local community also helps students to get a leg up. Whether students pursue college credits or a technical program, or both, there are plenty of networking opportunities presented to these young adults. One company that is building ties with the school is Able Tool & Equipment who recently donated $5,000 worth of equipment to the school. When the school develops relationships with local businesses the students win, but so do the businesses. The school gains access to materials and opportunities, and the business gains access to future qualified employees who have already gone through rigorous training.
“Our graduates are very well prepared, they’re able to work right away,” Czaporowski said. “Students earn competency certificates that are scored on every different component of the shop. Students would potentially bring that certificate to an employer and the business would be able to see what the graduate can do.”
A 22-person team combed the school for three days and found “a student body that seemed genuinely very happy to come to school each day.”
They found a focused and excited school where students were on task and actively working in every area. Ninety-two percent of students reported that they were happy with their decision to attend the school, and they felt confident in their career and academic programs.
The visiting committee found the budget for the school wanting. “Just like industry, funds are required to update technology in a timely fashion,” it was stated in the report.
“Of course our budget is wanting,” agreed Czaporowski. “I think every school’s budget is.
“Look at our IT Department,” he said. “We just got new equipment because the city supports us and the town supports us, and because we apply for every grant available under the sun. Our IT department has all new equipment now, but what happens in 5 years when that’s all obsolete? It’s just the nature of what we do here. We need to keep updating so that the students have the tools they need to learn these trades.”
Walking through the school, the excitement is palpable. There aren’t any students loitering in the hallway or lazily hanging around classrooms. Students in the Tiger’s Pride kitchen busily prepare lunch for the public, 2 students making a perfect-looking reuben sandwich. Every day from 10:45 to noon, the school opens its restaurant to the public, offering homemade but inexpensive food, giving the students a chance to learn restaurant management from the inside out. The bakery churns out rich, gooey cookies and lovely-looking cakes, all made by students.
“When I started here three years ago we had 50 people on our advisory committee,” said Czaparowski. “Now we’re up to 150.”
“These are people from local businesses who are very involved, and that support has helped us as a school,” he said. “We want our kids to be prepared for the real world, and there’s no better way to do that than through the people who are running those businesses. Because of that, pretty much all of our kids in the shops have jobs to go to when they graduate.”
“We want more opportunities for our students,” he said. “We want to take things to the next level.”
The accreditation team will return in 5 years to check that the school is following through on the recommendations, but the school has already made several of the necessary improvements and the administrative team is listening to and providing what the students, teachers and businesses need.
