Wilson Tech - What's New

Jennifer Rosati will complete high school with a FAA license she earned while studying in Wilson Tech's Aviation Maintenance Technology program. For a tour of the AMT program at Republic Airport, call 631-752-1957.

Jennifer Rosati, a senior in Wilson Tech’s Aviation Maintenance Technology program, was just awarded a four-year scholarship to Vaughn College of Aeronautics totaling nearly $60,000. The Deer Park resident will study Aeronautical Engineering thanks to the scholarship which covers all room and board expenses and $6,000 a year for tuition for all four years.

Jennifer was recently selected as a finalist in this year’s Vanguard Award from the State Education Department for pursuing a career that is not traditional to her gender and also competed in the Regional SkillsUSA contest in the area of Prepared Speech.

“She is an excellent example of what a “non-traditional” student can accomplish here at Wilson Tech. I truly believe that she will go on to do great things!” said Diana Santiago, Tech’s FAA Liaison/Teacher Coordinator.

Tech students competed and won 21 trophies at the recent regional SkillsUSA competition including 6 first place winners, 9 second place winners and 6 third place winners. Tech students made a clean sweep of the automotive technology competition; took first and second in food preparation, small animal careers and welding; and scored second and third in video production. In addition to the skills contests, Sachin Kumar, a Half Hollow Hills East student in Wilson Tech’s video production program, was elected vice president of the SkillsUSA chapters in the Long Island area. Click here to see the competition and awards ceremony! Click here to see who won!

SkillsUSA, is a national student organization that offers leadership, citizenship and character development programs to complement the skills training that vocational students receive in career and technical programs at Wilson Tech. The competition required students to demonstrate the skills they had learned in their Tech programs. Registration is now underway for the 30 programs Tech offers for high school students. For more information, contact the home school guidance counselor or call 549-4900 x300.

Thanks to Steve Mercaldo, a retired Wilson Tech teacher now working with the Greater New York Auto Dealer’s Association, Tech students inspected the internal workings of a hydrogen fuel cell car. GM sent a manager of fuel cell activities to demonstrate how a hydrogen powered 2010 GM Equinox works. Both the secondary and adult automotive students from the Dix Hills and Northport campuses learned about alternative fuels. Students were disappointed the engine didn’t reve but were intrigued that the car could go 100 mph with zero emissions. The car, they learned, would out perform a gas vehicle but was not designed for speeding!

For the second year in a row, two Wilson Tech students won first place in the NYS competition sponsored by the Greater New York Auto Dealer’s Association. Thomas Avelin (c.) and Robert Gilman (r.), seniors at Northport High School, received more than $36,000 in scholarships, tools and accessories for their performance trouble-shooting a Toyota Forerunner. Their teacher Brian Harrison (l.) arranged for the students to prepare for the competition by practicing at Huntington Toyota. The duo also won a Toyota Tacoma pickup for their classmates to work on at Tech’s Northport Campus. Both students will compete at the national contest at the NY Auto Show at the Jacob Javits Center on April 7. Habberstad BMW in Huntington is providing a car and space for the students to practice trouble-shooting before that competition which requires them to diagnose a BMW.

	The purchase of two Piper Warrior II airplanes will add another dimension to the hands-on training that students in the Aviation Maintenance Technology program receive at Wilson Tech. Those who complete the AMT program can sit for licenses from the Federal Aviation Administration in Powerplant and Airframe.

High school students can prepare for one FAA license while they are still in high school and then continue in the BOCES adult program to complete their training. High school students interested in the program should call 631-667-6000, ext. 300 or talk with the guidance counselor in the student's home high school.

The FAA approved program offers day and evening classes for adults in Tech's modern 3,000 square foot facility. BOCES offers a waiver for approved military training (DD214). Unlimited transfer credits are accepted from other FAA 147 approved programs and FAA recognized field experience. Financial aid and grants are available to those eligible. Graduates of the program have access to lifetime job placement through Wilson Tech. Adults can schedule a tour by calling 631-752-1957.

Wilson Tech is the career and technical education program of Western Suffolk BOCES. The AMT program has been preparing students to become certified technicians for 35 years. The program is located at Wilson Tech's facility at Republic Airport on Route 110 in Farmingdale.

Anastasiya Vladychack
Culinary Arts

Rhodesia Williams
Video Production

Hayley McCarthy
Police Science

Jennifer Rosati
Aircraft Maintenance

Olga Shchegelska
Flight Science

Five Wilson Tech students have been named finalists for the NYS Education Department's 2010 Vanguard Award. These awards are presented each year to high school students pursuing a career program that is not a traditional career path for their gender.

Belynda Ungurath (center, l.) and Carlee Martin (center, r.) of South Huntington captured first place while Robert Swetland (l) of West Babylon and Justin Roethel (r.) of Copiague captured second place at the annual Business Leadership Competition sponsored by the Young Professionals Chamber of Commerce, a program of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce. All four top finishers, seniors from Tech’s advertising art program, were recognized for designing and presenting the most effective advertising packages for an upscale corporate interior design company seeking a global audience.

The students had to “pitch” their ideas for a business package complete with their original concepts for the company’s logo, business card, letterhead, and envelope to judges selected from local businesses. The Tech entries were cited for their creativity and marketability. All four students will graduate in June and plan to continue studying graphic design in college.

Student officers from Wilson Tech recently joined other high school students in the Suffolk County High School Leadership Council. Each year the area principals organize a day-long "Compassion without Borders" to support causes in their communities where students can make a difference. Take a look at this year's conference when students agreed to join a county-wide effort and raise $1,000 to help repair the home of a student with muscular dystrophy.

When more movies are shot on Long Island, we may have a Tech student to thank! Video Production student Joseph Sampson from Lindenhurst has just been notified that his entry won second place in the Suffolktime 30-Second Promotional Video Contest hosted by the Suffolk County Film Commission. For his efforts, he won a two-night stay at the Best Western in Riverhead along with two tickets to Atlantis Marine World where he and a friend can dive with the sharks!

Wilson Tech recently inducted officers into the student organization SkillsUSA at each of the four Tech campuses. After the ceremony, students and guests sampled appetizers made by students in Tech's Culinary Arts program. Watch the festivities!

Congratulations to the Veterinary Assisting FFA team, which traveled this fall to Springfield, Massachusetts and took 1st place at the Big E Small Animal Careers National Competition. Members of Wilson Tech's team included (l. to r.) Sara Carrieri (HHHE) who had the 5th highest score in the nation; Felicia Romano (HHHE), 2nd highest scorer; Alexandra Jackson (Harborfields), 4th highest scorer; and Angela Jaworowski (Copiague), who scored 1^st place in the nation. These outstanding students were the highest scoring individuals of all other national competitors! It was worth the long wait from last spring for these honors!

Lori Battell of West Islip, an adult student in Western Suffolk BOCES’ School of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, was one of eight in the U.S. to be awarded a scholarship from the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers. Lori will use her $500 award for her tuition in the program. She hopes to complete the BOCES program in June 2010and then work in a hospital.

Among the five specialty areas available in Tech's 24-month program, Tech students can pursue echocardiography (the sonography of structures of the heart), general, breast, obstetrics and vascular sonography. Each specialty area requires graduates to pass a different registry exam.

Lori selected the BOCES program at Wilson Tech’s Northport campus because of its affordable tuition and the emphasis on supervised clinical experience in hospitals and doctor's offices from Manhattan to Southampton. Students gain valuable hands-on experience in several three-month clinical rotations.

Interested adults should begin preparations now for the next class which begins July 2010. The program is fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. Financial aid is available to those who qualify. For more details about the program, admission requirements and tuition, go to www.wsboces.org/fulltime, or call 631-261-3721 ext. 219.

Tech Honors Skill and Scholarship Winners
Scholarship recipients and winners of statewide skills competitions were recognized at Wilson Tech's special end-of-the-year ceremony. Students and their guests were later honored at a special gourmet dinner prepared and served by students in Tech's Culinary Arts program. See who is being honored!

The annual spring InterCounty Horse Show was held at the Thomas School of Horsemanship in Melville in April. The outstanding equine students at Wilson Tech included first and second place team awards in Quiz Bowl as well as four first, second, and third place winners in individual events. Click here to see how all the Tech students placed against Nassau and Eastern Suffolk BOCES students.

Fashion Students Have a Definite Flair!
Students in Wilson Tech's Fashion/Merchandising program modeled the clothing they designed and created for both special occasions and everyday wear at the annual Fashion Show. More than 250 people attended the event to raise money for scholarships for Tech students. Click here to see photos of the evening.

Ralph Savarese, automotive technology teacher at Wilson Tech’s Northport campus, was named “Instructor of the Year” by Universal Technical Institute during the New York Auto Show at the Jacob Javits Center last week. Savarese was selected from all automotive instructors in the U.S. based on the participation and success of his students in the various automotive competitions sponsored by the National Automobile Dealers Association. This was the third time in 13 years that his students had reached the national competition after winning the NYS contest.

Ralph Cothias, a Half Hollow Hills West student in Tech's aviation science/flight program, won first place at the NYS SkillsUSA competition in Syracuse in early April in the related technical math contest. Six other Tech students captured second place: Meredith Walters (Elwood) in commercial baking; Frank Arcuri (Lindenhurst) in culinary arts; Sergio Posillico (Huntington) in food prep assisting; Sara Woods (Huntington) in photography; Victoria Pirulli (Half Hollow Hills East) in promotional photography bulletin board; and Audrey Cruiciani (Commack) in small animals careers. Click here for photos from the competition.

In addition to the skills contests, Alexandria Simeone, a medical assisting lab student from Smithtown, was elected as a New York delegate to the national SkillsUSA competition in June in Missouri, and Kenneth David, a Commack student in Tech’s certified personal trainer program, was elected vice president of the SkillsUSA chapters in the Long Island area.

SkillsUSA, is a national student organization that offers leadership, citizenship and character development programs to complement the skills training that vocational students receive in career and technical programs at Wilson Tech. The competition required students to demonstrate the skills they had learned in their Tech programs. Parents and prospective Tech students are invited to tour any of Tech’s four campuses during Parents Night on Tuesday, June 2 at 7 pm. For more information, call 549-4900 x300.

Twenty-one students from Wilson Technological Center won top honors at the spring 2009 regional competitions for SkillsUSA, a national organization that promotes career and technical education. Students from the three BOCES on Long Island competed against each other and against students from several high school vocational programs and students from vocational schools in Queens at Farmingdale State University. Winners were selected based on how well they demonstrated the skills they had learned in their technical programs. Click here to see Tech students competing.

SAT Review Classes FREE!
Get ready to take the SAT with confidence! Wilson Tech offers two-hour workshops on the Wednesday before the SAT test to review basic test-taking strategies. These workshops are offered FREE to all high school students. Workshops are held at Tech's Dix Hills campus from 4 to 6 p.m. Students must provide their own transportation. To learn exact dates, find a map to Wilson Tech, or to register, go to www.wilsontech.org/SATreview.

The Surgical Technonology program at Wilson Technological Center was just ranked in the top 10% of surgical technology programs in the United States. The program received a national merit award from the Liaison Council on Certification for Surgical Technologist because all of the 2003 graduates who attempted the national certification exam, passed and achieved the status of Certified Surgical Technologist.

“This 100 % pass rate is due to the excellent instructors and to our diligent students. We are extremely proud of everyone.” noted Joseph Myers, Executive Director of Career and Technical Education at Wilson Technological Center, a division of Western Suffolk BOCES.

Kathi Baker, program administrator, added that the demand is very strong for Surg Techs. Everyone in last year’s class is working in health care, she said.

Tech’s 10-month program prepares students for employment in the operating room, surgical office, delivery room, emergency departments, physician and dentist offices, central supply services, cardiac catheterization clinics, tissue banks and ambulatory surgical care sites. Financial aid, loans, grants and payment plans are available to qualified applicants.

Applications are now being accepted for September classes in Surgical Technology. There are no specific academic prerequisites for admission into the program, however, students must pass the Test of Basic Adult Education (TABE) and a pre-entrance exam. For more information about the program or for an application for the pre-entrance exam, call (631) 261-3727. Additional information about the program and financial aid is also available at www.wilsontech.org.

Amy-Lyn Dacchille of Selden (l.) and Jennifer Bragg of E. Northport (r.) prepare for an emergency room procedure as part of the Surgical Technology program at Wilson Technological Center. Wilson Technological Center, the career and technical division of Western Suffolk BOCES, provides financial aid, loans, grants and payment plans to qualified students. For more information about the required pre-entrance exam or enrolling in the 10-month Surg Tech program for September, call (631) 261-3727 or go to www.wilsontech.org.