A new year means new beginnings for KTECH’s latest group of men and women looking to develop skills that will help them find high-demand skilled labor jobs.
Seven students make up the 16th class KTECH has held since the school’s inception in 2016. KTECH Recruitment Specialist Robin Dauma said it is a group of “wonderfully diverse students I can’t wait to see succeed after guiding them through the application process — from a distance, in some cases.”
This session’s students are truly from a wide variety of backgrounds. One is from Serbia. Another — who drove from California to Alabama to take classes — speaks Thai. Another was born in Germany.
Several of them are musicians. One of them is a barber.
One is a mother of three; another is a grandmother.
But they all have one thing in common: a desire to learn. And they are all interested in the hands-on learning that KTECH provides.
"They all recognize that the jobs are in the skills we are teaching, and so they're interested in going to work in fields that are in demand," said KTECH Workforce Development Director Dorothy Havens.
Class 16 spent a day at orientation, getting an overview of what they would learn during their time at KTECH and getting to know each other and their instructors. The next day they got started in the classroom, getting a math refresher. Soon, they will begin learning Mechatronics and taking Life Labs, aimed at helping them succeed in both work and life.
Over the next five months, these KTECH students will learn skills that are in high demand for advanced manufacturing jobs across the region, including the automotive industry.
KTECH, a workforce training initiative of Kids to Love, has produced 253 certifications in Mechatronics, Robotics, Solid Edge, and Soldering with a 100% graduation rate. KTECH was named the 2021 Service Provider of the Year by the Alabama Automobile Manufacturers Association. For more details about joining KTECH’s next class go to: Goktech.org.