LAHARPE — Three Iola seniors spread out with their laptops at the new internet cafe at the Rural Regional Technology Center Thursday morning.
They delved into an online class on phlebotomy, the process of drawing blood. The class is offered through Neosho County Community College as part of the tech center’s new Health Occupations program.
“This is a little more challenging” than a regular classroom setting, Kelsie Finley said. “But I enjoy a challenge, and it’s giving me a head start in my nursing classes. I want to be a trauma nurse.”
Students Taylor Boren and Kamri Hall agreed. Taylor also wants to become a nurse. Kamri isn’t sure yet what she wants to do, but appreciates the opportunity to “broaden my ideas on the health pathway.”
The internet cafe is located in the center of the RRTC. Four doors lead to classrooms: welding, construction trades, wind energy and health occupations. Wind energy is taught in conjunction with Cloud Community College. The other three are offered through NCCC.
Behind the door on the south side of the cafe, instructor Tina Kelley teaches a class on Certified Nursing Assistant and medical terminology. At the end of the program, students will earn their CNA certificate and be able to go directly into the workforce, or continue their education.
Health occupations is the newest program at the tech center and quickly maxed its enrollment with 20 students, Melissa Stiffler, CTE Coordinator for USD 257, said.
Enrollment for wind energy is also maxed at 13. Construction trades has 10 students, with a max of 12.
Welding continues to be the most popular program — so popular, in fact, that it expanded to three daily sessions. Classes are limited to 15 students. The morning class has 13; mid-day and afternoon classes each have 12.
In five years of the RRTC’s existence, it continues to grow into the original vision of a regional technology training center. It now includes school districts in Iola, Moran, Uniontown, Crest, Erie and Chanute.
THE RRTC started after LaHarpe business owner Ray Maloney purchased the former Diebolt Lumber building and donated it to the school district. Maloney continues to donate to the program, including all the materials necessary to build a house last year and equipment for the health occupations program this year.
The tech center’s’ first year introduced a construction trades class, which faced a few growing pains.
Fort Scott Community College offered the program, but had a different vision for it than USD 257 administrators. FSCC saw it as more of an opportunity to learn general construction skills, including OSHA guidelines, but the school district wanted students to build a house.
The program also struggled to find instructors, as the position is part-time. A rotating door of instructors worked through the first couple of years, until retired shop teacher Steve Carpenter took over for two years. He retired, again, at the end of last year.
Last year, students finally began to work on building a tiny house but their work was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
