Collinsville Area Vocational Center (CAVC) provides hands-on training in a variety of professional fields.

Instructors have real world work experience in their areas of expertise. The
environment simulates an authentic work environment where students can gain the skills
necessary to be successful in college, trade school, the military, and the work force.

Collinsville ARea Vocational Center

Vo c at i o n a l U p dat e

What is the AVC ?

Senior and Junior students from Collinsville, Mascoutah, Dupo and Lebanon school districts
attend classes for two and a half hours each day. The extended time frame allows instructors
to immerse students in simulated employment situations. Students not only learn step-bystep procedures associated with their field, they also learn to work together, collaborate,
and problem solve.
In addition to advanced curriculum, qualified instructors, and a dynamic environment,
many students have the opportunity to earn college credit from Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC). These credits are free and available as part of the students enrollment in many
of our CAVC classes. Most of the credits are transferrable to other educational institutions
and can save families thousands of dollars!

AVC 2013-14 Outstanding Students of the Year

Jacob DeLarosaAuto Body Repair
James HartAuto Mechanics
Jacob PayneBuilding Trades
Shayma Al-JaffClinical Health Occupations
Nicole HastyEarly Childhood Education
Ian HowardElectronics
Ryan BruntonPrecision Machining
Chadwick BaerWelding
Other Programs include Engineering, Web and Graphic Design, Food Services, Criminal Justice

National Technical honor Society

2013-14 Members
Emily Johann
Katie Kindle
Gabrielle Borders

Mission: To honor student achievement and leadership,

promote educational excellence, award scholarships, and enhance career opportunities for the NTHS membership.

Vision: To be the international leader in providing recognition for excellence in career and technical education.

Committed To:

Providing the highest quality recognition for outstanding students in career and technical education,

Being a flexible organization on the leading edge of technology and constantly responding to
change,

Maintaining financial responsibility to meet our increasing needs,

sustaining growth, innovation, and continuous improvement based upon ongoing evaluation.

Supplying excellent services to our diverse and multi-cultural membership and member schools,
Providing scholarship opportunities for its members,
Creating new and emerging relationships between the educational community and business and
industry,

CAVC Preschool Openings

AVC Preschool has openings for children between 3 & 5-years-old. For more than 20 years, the AVC Preschool has been
helping children prepare for Kindergarten in the unique preschool setting. While high school students are enrolled in the
Early Childhood Education program, they are putting the skills they are gaining in the classroom to work by providing
appropriate hands-on lessons and activities for the children enrolled. Due to this distinctive set up, preschool students are
given individual attention from the high school students, as well as, the two certified instructors on a daily basis.
Preschool sessions are offered on Tues/Wed/Thurs from 9:15-11:15 and on
Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri from 11:45-1:45. The cost is $50.00 per semester
beginning on Sept. 10. Please call 618/346-6320 ext. 1226 for more information
or if you are interested in enrollment.

CAVC Students Past and Present Top in the Nation at Skills Competition
Two Collinsville Vocational Center machining students and three graduates now attending SWIC for machining attended the
Skills USA 50th National Leadership and Skills Conference in June.
During their week long stay in Kansas City, these students competed with over 15,000 high school and college
students from across the nation in 98 occupational and leadership skill areas. Skills USA programs help to
establish industry standards for job skill training in the classroom. Skills USA helps students discover and grow
their career passions. As a nationwide partnership of students, instructors, and industry working together, Skills
USA works to ensure America has a skilled workforce. Skills USA programs teach leadership, citizenship, and
character development to complement technical skill training. The organization emphasizes respect for the
dignity of work, ethics, workmanship, scholarship, and safety. Competitors were able to spend their evenings at Worlds of Fun
Amusement Park, sampling Kansas City BBQ, and performing community service at one of Kansas Citys historic sites. In efforts to drive home the importance of having a skill, Mike Rowe from Dirtiest Jobs was the keynote speaker at this year's conference and showed clips of his new show designed to promote the importance of trade skills and CTE.
In order to qualify for this National Conference students must score in the top percentage within the state on a
written exam covering information from their skill. Once they pass this portion in February, students attend the
state conference in April for the hands on portion of the contest. Skills USA requires students to have the
academic ability, as well as perform the skill. Not only did these students place in the top 3 of their written
exams out of students across the state who tested, they all earned gold medals at the state conference as first in
the state in their contests. This is a huge accomplishment beating out the Chicago area schools who are known
for their strong programs. See below what they competed in and their placements at the National Conference.

Ryan Brunton (Sr. at CHS) competed in Precision Machining-improved from 11th to 4th in the Nation!
Matt Drost (Sr. at CHS) competed in CNC Milling- 12th in the nation
**Matt Cambell and Charles Barger (graduates of CHS, currently attending SWIC under Mark Bosworth) competed
in Post Secondary Automated Manufacturing Technology tying for 5th in the nation.
Michael Garcia (graduate of CHS, currently attending SWIC under Mark Bosworth) competed in Post Secondary CNC
Turning 6th in the nation.

All of these young men were students of Collinsville Area Vocational Center's Machining instructor, Justin Cann who attended
the conference during the competition portion and repeatedly reported his pride in their work.

CAVC 2nd Annual Car Cruise and Open House

Saturday April 25th, 2015

Save the date!

Concessions, Face Painting, Dash Plaques, Blood Pressure Checks, Traffic Direction and CAVC Tours.
Music and Karaoke provided by Derek Keith of WIL 92.3

Health Occupations Students of America go to Nationals

Delegates from Illinois HOSA Future Health Professionals traveled to Orlando, Florida June 24 - 28 to participate in the
2014 HOSA National Leadership Conference. Representing Illinois HOSA were 106 students participating in 35 different
events. Schools in attendance included: Bartlett High School, Career Center of Southern Illinois, Collinsville AVC, Daniel
Hale Williams Prep, Dunbar Vocational Center, Edwardsville High School, Grundy AVC, Jo Daviess Carroll Area Vocational
Center, Joliet Township High School, Massac County High School, Mt. Vernon Township High School, North Grand High
School, South Shore International School Prep, Sullivan High School, West Aurora High School, and Wilco ACC. Congratulations to all of the delegates for their representation of Illinois HOSA.
CAVC sent eight students to this intense competition which took place
this summer. In order to be eligible, students were required to first com
plete an on-line assessment. Once top scoring students were identified,
they then went to the HOSA state competition and tested their skills
against 750 other students from across the state. The top three places in
each area qualified to attend the national conference this summer. CAVC
Director, Dr. Tricia Blackard stated, I am so incredibly proud of the
health occupations programs we offered here. This accomplishment validates all of the hard work these students have put in this year. Their instructor, Ms. Sherry Modeer, and their parents must be
incredibly proud. They are excellent representatives of our community and the health care field.

Shayma Al-Jaff, Supria Autenreith, Savannah Bogus,

and Brittany Weaver
qualified in Creative Problem Solving
Kayleen Derringer and Ayla Werrbach
qualified in Community Awareness
Savannah Bogus
qualified in Epidemiology
Cheyanne Buneta
qualified in Personal Care
Chatoria Watson
qualified in Clinical Specialty

Everyone on the planet seems to be using STEM, the latest buzzword, as an indicator that our
schools are not performing at the highest level. Virtually every article written about education
in the last two years points toward increasing jobs in STEM fields and the need for education to
place more of a focus on STEM areas. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and
Math. Career and technical education (CTE) has known the importance of STEM for years. Just
take a look at the common core standards for Science and you will see a continual emphasis on
problem solving, application of concepts vs. just knowledge of them. Students today need to be
able to use what they are learning. Keep in mind, CTE has been applying concepts from all academic areas for years. We have always seen the value in real world applications of learning. Having the rest of the education community sharing this approach is incredibly validating!