Questar III’s Career Academy based at the Columbia-Greene Educational Center in Hudson offers (special education) students the chance to complete Career and Technical Education or Career Studies programs while also offering them support and assistance they need to achieve a Regents diploma upon graduation.
Career Academy student Zachary Kerr is well on his way to becoming an IT professional through Questar III’s AIT program at CGEC
Every student in the program has an IEP (Individualized Education Program) and have been officially designated as “high risk” of not graduating high school on their IEP.
Begun as a pilot program in 2012 with four students, the Career Academy graduated its first full class of eight students in June of 2015, and all graduates are either working or attending college full-time.
Career Academy teacher Jefferson LaMountain says the program has changed significantly since its inception.
“What began as a way to eliminate a mid-day transportation expenditure and increase “seat-time” time is now a professional learning community for special education students. Under the tutelage of Mr. Stomieroski, we now enjoy resources dedicated to teaching and learning such as: interactive whiteboards, personal learning environments, high-quality digital learning resources, and the ability to access them from home – students use office 365 for their assignments. It significantly improved the experience and aspirations of our students,” LaMountain said.
In Auto Services, for example, students learn how to replace part of an automotive electrical system. In the Career Academy classroom, they learn how to order that part at the most competitive price.
Senior Zachary Kerr (Hudson CSD) is enrolled in the Career Academy as well as the Academy for Information Technology (AIT) program. Before beginning the Career Academy, he was enrolled at Sackett Educational Center in Castleton. He says being part of both classes has helped him in ways he never expected.
“It gave me a better environment because I work better with a smaller amount of kids, on top of the fact that I liked they were more hands-on with how they handle the material. It gave me the opportunity to continue my academics while being here instead of being at Sackett for half a day then coming here,” Kerr said.
Kerr began working with computers as a child and built his own machine at the age of seven. By the age of 11, he says he was able to custom build a computer from the ground up and was able to repair almost any Windows-related issues he or others encounter.
Today, he is achieving great success with his AIT coursework. Outside of school, he is the team leader for a volunteer group designing and developing the previously scrapped finale to the Torch Light video game series, Torch Light 3: The Last Ember.
He says the work began as a modification for the second iteration of the franchise, but when the modifications got to be too much for the servers to handle, he approached the company and was granted permission to use the license to develop a complete game.
One of the pieces Kerr says is coolest is what he calls a “spinning vector based system”, in which assets for the game (barrels, rocks, etc.) are placed randomly in each area or map, so players never see the same map twice.
His team is also working to develop a process that helps the game learn how a player typically plays the game, how they fight, etc. and adapt gameplay around the style of the player.
Kerr also works as a writer and is creating the entire storyline for the game himself.
“The thing I love the most is that it’s given me the opportunity to further my education in a way I enjoy because everyone is flexible around my styles and how I handle things and people have adapted to me. It was hard for a while because people couldn’t quite understand how I was because I’m autistic, but ever since coming to Questar, people have been able to learn and work around how I work.”
LaMountain says the program works because of its unique structure, “team” approach, and administrative support. Personalization guides the decisions about the details of the course of study, the use of students’ and teachers’ time and the choice of teaching materials.
“We believe that the students are the primary actors in the educational process and they agree,” he says.
“With the support of districts, students who are willing to learn, a bunch of motivation from the staff, good communication from everyone, and hard work, this program is getting students where they need to be to accomplish their goals. We are very proud of what this program has accomplished in the short time we’ve had it,” said CGEC Principal Jake Stomieroski.
For more information about the Career Academy, please contact the Special Education office at (518) 477-8771 or Columbia-Greene Educational Center at (518) 828-4157.
