Eastern Center for Arts and Technology, a career and technical school, located in Eastern Montgomery County, provides opportunities for those who are interested in specific trades. These trades include automotive technology, cosmetology, veterinary science, and many more. Springfield Township High School students have the option to enroll in an Eastern course during their junior and senior years.
As a member of Eastern, students leave school to travel to the facility during either the first or second half of the day. Students are provided transportation via bus. While there, students interact with students from other schools around the county while they meet in hands-on classroom settings led by instructors, who are experts in their fields.
Each career path leads to learning an impactful and wonderful trade to be used in the real world.
In their own words.
Here are three students who have participated in Eastern over the past year or two years. Read on to hear directly from Eastern students who have found success in this program. We interviewed individuals studying the Culinary Arts, Automotive Collision Repair, and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC).
Julian Mitchell, Culinary Arts
What does your coursework look like?
“At Eastern, I do a lot of hands-on food production, as well as prep for upcoming catering.”
How do you see this work helping you in the future?
“I want to become a head chef at a 5-star restaurant and teach cooking in a tech school like Eastern Center for Arts and Technology when I finish my restaurant career.”
What have you gotten from your time at Eastern?
“I have learned a lot of valuable information about food and general tips for everyday efficiency.”
RJ Franklin, Automotive Collision Repair
What does your coursework look like?
“At Eastern, I am in the collision repair program learning auto body.”
How do you see this work helping you in the future?
“I plan to use what I learn to get a job in a shop where I can work as either a body tech, which is the person who fixes the car when it gets into an accident, or a painter who either repaints cars or paints the cars the body tech fixes.”
What have you gotten from your time at Eastern?
Eastern has been a great experience overall and has helped me learn something more than what a traditional school can teach me. The East has given me the greatest chance to succeed and make a living for myself.”
Colin Pennington, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
What does your coursework look like?
“At Eastern, I’m in the HVAC program which is like the jack of all trades of the construction programs. You get to work with many different things like piping, sheet metal, and wiring.”
How do you see this work helping you in the future?
“This allows you to go into many different fields of work after finishing Eastern and make a living for yourself.”
What have you gotten from your time at Eastern?
“I have had a great experience this year at Eastern. It has allowed me to work hands-on and not have to sit in a classroom all day. It has also allowed me to make new friends.”
