WESTFIELD – In his report to the City Council as School Department liaison, Ward 2 Councilor Ralph J. Figy reported that Westfield Technical Academy had just (Thursday) received a $108,000 Skills Capital grant for Electrical Wiring, which he said would allow them to expend into other fields, including solar.
WTA Electrical Wiring instructor Chris Benda and state gold medal winner Daniel Shaw, who will be competing at nationals next week. (WNG File Photo)
Figy noted that for the last three years, students from the Electrical Wiring shop won gold in the state SkillsUSA competition, and all three years were invited to the nationals. This year’s gold medal winner, Dan Shaw, will be attending the competition in Louisville, Kentucky next week.
The previous state gold medal winner Christian Verdon (WTA 2017), who repeated last year also won bronze at nationals.
Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski said the $108,000 Skills Capital grant will be used to purchase equipment to support the Electrical Wiring career-technical program at the school.
“With the grant, the school will replace out-of-date equipment, including electrician’s tool kits, table tops, stools, lockers, a powered conduit bender, and a PVC conduit bender, a vacuum/blower fishing system, a powered cable puller and new motor control equipment,” Czaporowski said.
The Superintendent said the grant will also allow the shop to offer an adult education program through the Gould Institute in the evening for members of the community that will be taught by WTA instructors Gary Martineau, Chris Benda and Jesse Barrows. Czaporowski said the course will count toward required hours for a journeymen’s license. The course will begin on September 11. Applications are available at the school.
Skills Capital Grants are designed to help high schools, colleges and other educational institutions invest in the most up-to-date training equipment to give their students an advantage when they continue in their chosen field or particular area of study. Skills Capital grants cover a broad array of fields, from construction and engineering to healthcare and hospitality, Czaporowski said.
