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New Career Opportunities for Students Who Live in the Sunnyside Area
This week, the Pima JTED and the Sunnyside Unified School District governing boards each approved moving forward with building the new JTED @ STAR Academic Center Central Campus at 5093 S. Liberty Avenue in Tucson.
The new 7,000 square-foot facility, scheduled to be completed in late October, will house a Construction/Industrial Technologies program, and become the second location for Pima JTED's new Heavy Equipment Operations (HEO) Program.
Classes will begin August 3rd this year, and be held in classrooms at STAR Academic Center until the facility is completed. The HEO program will run from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. two days per week, plus students will attend two Saturday classes each month at locations including the University of Arizona Mine. The Construction program will follow STAR's bell schedule.
The Heavy Equipment Operations program is also offered at JTED @ Walden Grove in the Sahuarita Unified School District. It prepares high school students for high-paying careers operating Caterpillar and similar large machinery including; dozers, graders, backhoes, forklifts, and Earthmovers. Students will earn their NCCER certification and complete the safety requirements for job sites with an emphasis on OSHA, MSHA, and NIOSH requirements.
Sahuarita Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Manny Valenzuela and his team of business, civic, and community leaders, called Sahuarita WINS, worked with the Pima JTED to develop the Heavy Equipment Operations Program in response to industry demand for operators. The two districts have been working with Caterpillar and the UA Mine to develop the program for more than a year.
JTED Superintendent/CEO Alan L. Storm says, "We recently brought a group of students to the Caterpillar Tinaja Hills Demonstration and Learning Center to get their hands on equipment. What surprised us, aside from the sheer size of the equipment, was also learning how big salaries can be for Heavy Equipment Operators. This is a great opportunity for students to secure a career, and not incur a lot of student loan debt."
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