PALMER – The General Advisory Committee discussed each technical program with the Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical School Committee at its Jan. 18 meeting.

The General Advisory Committee put together a presentation of each of the 16 technical programs by highlighting the programs spotlights, enrollment, budget and proposed capital projects.

Vocational Director Amy Skowyra started the overall presentation by talking about the total enrollment, freshmen program placements and her goals for the program.

Skowyra shared enrollment figures over the past five years. In 2019, their district numbers were 643, in 2020 they were 638, in 2021 they were 612, in 2022 they were 627 and this year is 628.

Skowyra said, “Our enrollment over the last five years has remained relatively low. You will see some dips during the [COVID-19] years. I think that surprised us all since we were on such a great track and then a wrench was thrown into that, but we have rebounded nicely.”

Next, she presented the freshmen program placements and reported that 91 percent of freshmen received their first program choice and 8 percent received their second program choice.

Skowyra added, “We had 182 freshmen which is probably our biggest class since I have been here. Plumbing, electrical and health were popular and had huge waiting lists which is why 8 percent of students were enrolled in their second choice program.”

The goals of the vocational school are to follow the labor market and technical program cluster trends as well as cooperative educational placements.

“Our goals for now are to continue the strong efforts we have made. We are going to continue to analysis labor market trends and make sure our programs are designed with the labor market and make sure our students are ready for co-ops,” Skowyra added.

Each department head shared their slides about their respective programs highlighting the last year and looking ahead with their budget and proposed capital projects.

The five-year enrollment in each program increased or decreased by a only a small percentage but each department head said that they had no concern over those numbers.

Skowyra said, “Our pie chart of the percent of students in each program is almost even across the board. There are a few programs that declined in numbers but that is just because they are a lot of people drawn to plumbing.”

All the program spotlights shared ways that the students are being prepared to a pursue career at a young age including acquiring the proper certifications while at Pathfinder.

For example, students in plumbing receive their Massachusetts Hot Works and OSHA-10 certifications as well as tiers 1 through 3 of the Massachusetts plumbing tier program for licensure.

Randy Dimitropolis, who teaches plumbing and pipefitting, said, “This allows them to take their plumbing test. As they leave as seniors, they can take their tier four and tier five tests before the final test and can be 20 years old and be Massachusetts plumbers if they play it right.”

Students in other programs also immediately get hands on experience in their programs.

For example, automotive technology and collision repair work with police cruisers in Palmer and other vehicles that residents bring in.

Paul Bouthiller, instructor of automotive technology said, “Automotive technology worked on over 250 cars this year and installed over 200 new tires as well. Overall, we saved the public over $100,000 in automotive repairs all while teaching our students.”

The School Committee will meet on Feb. 15 to discuss next year’s budget.