COLLINSVILLE – Southwestern Illinois College students and instructors from the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration program are helping to install the HVAC system in the new home constructed by high school students in the Collinsville Area Vocational Center Building Trades Program, a two-year public vocational training center for high school juniors and seniors.
Students enrolled in CAVC learn occupational-related theory and workplace skills, in addition to hands-on skill development in their specified career area. SWIC HVAR students and instructors installed the new furnace, air-conditioning, air ducts and air filtration system in the new construction trade house.
“Working on the CAVC new construction is a positive for everyone involved,” said SWIC HVAR Program Coordinator Keith Otten. “Students in the HVAR program get real world experience and the CAVC students gain a new HVAC system for the trade house, which will save them thousands of dollars when the home is ready to be sold in 2019.”
This is the second consecutive year SWIC HVAR students have been able to assist in the installation of an HVAC system for the CAVC Building Trades Program. In addition to the HVAC system, the SWIC HVAR students also worked with Wolf and Son Heating and Cooling, a local contractor, dealer and supplier, to aid in the donation of American Standard brand equipment for the CAVC trade house.
CAVC offers vocational classes to primarily junior and senior high school students. Most classes at CAVC include free transferable college credit to SWIC. Once the students graduate high school, the credits the students received for CAVC courses can transfer to several technical education degree paths at SWIC.
An HVAR Associate in Applied Science Degree and Certificate options are available at SWIC. To learn more about the HVAR program, contact Otten at 618-235-2700, ext. 5175 or visit swic.edu/academics/career-degrees/hvacr. To learn more about courses that transfer to SWIC email [email protected].
