La Salle-Peru Area Career Center will host its annual Summer Hands-on Showcase in June

The La Salle-Peru Area Career Center will host its annual Summer Hands-on Showcase for local junior high students the week of Monday, June 5.

Special Populations Grant Coordinator for the La Salle-Peru Area Career Center Jeanette Maurice said the purpose of the program is to get students interested in careers at an early age.

“We have some awesome programs and awesome teachers and we have a situation in the Illinois Valley where people don’t even realize the area career center exists,” she said. “I have a teaching background and when you see kids coming in smiling and leaving smiling you know it was a good experience and it happened both years.”

Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students can register for sessions on carpentry, computer-aided design, graphic art design, computer programing, health occupations, machine technology, electrical wiring, culinary, forensics, early childhood education and welding. Registration will be from April 27 to May 24 on a first come, first served basis. There is no cost to participate but students must be able to provide their own transportation to the school.

When you see kids coming in smiling and leaving smiling you know it was a good experience and it happened both years.

—  Jeanette Maurice, special populations grant coordinator for the La Salle-Peru Area Career Center

Eighth-grade students who graduated this May are eligible to enroll.

The event runs June 5-8 with two separate three-hour sessions from 8 am to 11 a.m. and noon to 3 p.m., with a morning session June 9. Students can elect to do both sessions with a total of four skill areas to focus on.

Director of ACC and Starved Rock Associates for Vocational and Technical Education Dwayne Mentgen said students will be able to take home projects they have worked on throughout their time at the camp.

“The one thing we really asked was to make sure the kids could leave with something, so whatever they do, you know that they’re leaving with something they created,” Mentgen said.

In previous years, students have created lamps in electrical wiring, nameplates in machine technologies, welded an L-P logo and fingerprinted in forensics. Each day the students have the opportunity to learn two skills, so they can take home two projects.

The event is done in partnership between ACC and SRAVTE, as the mission of promoting career and technical education in schools is a primary goal for both.

Maurice said she wants students to leave camp with the knowledge of what programs exist and have something to take home and be proud to say “I made this.”

“The camp is very beneficial to students from around the Illinois Valley. Students need to know what is being taught at the career center, there’s always going to be a job for it with every single one of our programs,” Maurice said. “So, if you don’t want to go on to a four-year school, there are jobs out there, really good jobs. And they’re fun likable jobs.”

Mentgen mentioned it’s valuable to continue to show the students these programs are available and events like these can show children hands-on learning is both beneficial and enjoyable.

On the last day of camp, on Friday, June 9, representatives from each trade will visit the event and rotate the students through different skill sets.

“It’s a nice way for students who maybe didn’t choose welding or another career to go ‘oh that’s what they do’,” Mentgen said.

Register at sravte.org and look for “summer showcase” in the drop-down menu. For more information email jmaurice@lphs.net.