Today we feature Sharon Springs student Dylan Jones, an SSCS senior enrolled in the Heavy Equipment Repair and Operation [HERO] program at the Capital Region BOCES Career & Technical Education (CTE) Center.
Jones is one of 70 students training for careers as heavy equipment operators with state-of-the-art simulators purchased three years ago with a National Grid Workforce Development Grant. The simulators are used to train students on the two CTE campuses in Albany and Schoharie how to operate backhoes, bulldozers, graders, excavators and dump trucks.
Students interchange training time with the simulators and operate real construction equipment based on their schedules and the lesson plans for the day. Jones says the simulators are very beneficial to him and his classmates and give them an edge over other training programs.
“The simulators give me more stick time [practicing operations] and allows me to practice my operator skills,” he said. “I’m learning important skills that will enable me to get out in the construction field and not have to sit at a desk all day.”
Best of luck to Dylan as he trains for his future and prepares to graduation from SSCS in June!
