Conference fee waived, $6,000 in equipment donated to each participating school

A seminar hosted at Gateway Technical College Aug. 11 to Aug. 14 gave several area high school instructors the skills and equipment to provide cutting-edge training to their students to successfully enter their career or a college program.

Called a “train-the-trainer” event because college instructors train high school instructors to better train their students, the session provided nationally certified instruction on Snap-on automotive diagnostic equipment used in the industry today. The skills gained by high school teachers allows them to deliver even more real-world skills to their students which are needed to become college and career ready. The session was the same certification training Gateway has offered to instructors from across the country since 2008.

“This type of in-depth, nationally recognized professional development is rare and expensive to attend, so being able to provide this opportunity for our local instructors at no cost is a great benefit for the entire community,” said Gateway and session instructor Matt Janisin. 

Teachers from the following high schools within the Gateway district participated: Bradford (Kenosha Unified School District), Park (Racine Unified School District), Wilmot Unified, Lake Geneva Badger (Lake Geneva Area Schools), Burlington (Burlington Area Schools), Whitewater (Whitewater Unified School District), Waterford Unified, Union Grove, Elkhorn (Elkhorn Area School District).

“This seamless transition into Gateway’s programs saves students, their parents, and taxpayers’ money by not having to pay for duplicated services,” said Janisin.  “Accelerated students will come to the entry-level job market and post-secondary education with higher skills that benefit area employers as the skilled workforce expands.”

In addition to providing the training at no cost, Gateway and the National Coalition of Certification Centers-NC3 donated $6,000 worth of Snap-on diagnostic tools to the teachers – the same equipment they trained on in the session – for their high school.

“Equipment and training are essential for improving student experiences within the classroom, and building a more skilled and career-ready workforce,” said Janisin. “This donation of advanced automotive diagnostic equipment, along with nationally recognized certification training, ensures instructors will be comfortable and confident in teaching their own students how to effectively diagnose problems found on today’s complex computer controlled vehicles.”

The event was hosted at Gateway’s Horizon Center for Transportation Technology. This opportunity was made possible by the strong partnership Gateway has created with Snap-on, Inc. though NC3.

Instructors from the high schools of West Allis Central and West Allis Hale (West Allis-West Milwaukee School District) and Beloit Memorial (School District of Beloit), also participated.