What does Solon High School do for the kids who need something different for their education? Not everyone thrives by sitting behind a desk all day, taking Common Core classes. Some need to get up and do something physical to find what they succeed  in. That is what the Excel Technical Education Career Consortium (Excel TECC) program is all about.

Excel TECC is the career technical program offered at Solon High School (but does not take place at SHS) to teach kids special skills and trades. Basically, it creates other options for students to try new things that could be options for their future. Students can pursue a course that works for them using the vocational training that they receive, which then sets them up for a head start in their career if they stick with it.

“Excel TECC is our career consortium,” said Steve Nowak, the guidance counselor at SHS that is in charge of Excel TECC. “The kids go out and take vocational classes at different high schools. Most of them are offered at Mayfield.”

SHS is partnered with ten other schools in northeast Ohio to produce various career education experiences offered to all students in those high schools.

The categories of career fields offered include Arts and Communication, Business and Administration/Hospitality, Construction Technologies/Manufacturing, Education & Training, Engineering/Transportation, Environmental & Agricultural Systems, Health Sciences, Human Services/Public Safety, Information Technology and Intervention programs.

Excel TECC is considered to be a good alternative for high school students who have the potential to succeed in a different setting

“It’s focused for the kids that like hands-on activities,” Nowak said. “[It’s for students] that don’t mind getting out of the traditional high school setting, and want to specialize in a skill or trade that can be used in college or in life.”

Frankie Dimora, a SHS senior, joined the Excel TECC construction program his junior year. He thinks it was a great decision to help his future career.

“This prepares me for [life] after high school because with my knowledge I can go into virtually any union or job  [in construction] I’d like,” Dimora said.

There is no wrong choice in joining Excel TECC or in staying with an academic schedule. Solon stresses the fact that it is simply an alternative option, one is not a better choice than the other.

“There’s nothing wrong with the typical academic schedule for students,” Nowak said. “But this program provides a little more hands-on instruction in a more specialized area that kids can go into and get some hands-on work.”

Some of the training offered by Excel TECC is a prerequisite for the careers certain students choose to pursue. In some cases, like for Solon and Excel TECC graduate Gahl Saffar, the training that students  get through the program counts towards their actual career readiness so they can start  working sooner. Saffar completed the Fire/EMS Training Academy and had a jumpstart on his career compared to his peers.

“I am definitely in a better position for my career,” Saffar said. “I already had 50% of my required training done at the end of high school.”

Despite the benefits, Excel TECC has a negative stigma at SHS. Many people that first hear about it think that the program is just for failing students.

“The reason some people have a negative image of Excel TECC is because of the way the old vocational schools used to be 10-15 years ago,” Nowak said. “The program was not designed to create opportunities the same way that it can now.”

“Sometimes the stigma with Excel TECC is that people think of it as the old Excel TECC,” Nowak said. “People think it is just for kids that are underperforming, but that is not the case. You have some traditional programs like construction trades, auto mechanics and things of that nature, and there’s nothing wrong with getting a trade like that. We have kids that are doing construction and then still going to college; kids sometimes think they go into that program and they can’t go to college, but that’s not true. I’ve even had a kid that was in the performing arts program that went on to Yale.”

SHS students  have found great success in Excel TECC, and there are not many kids who come out of it with any negative feelings about it.

“If you are passionate about a career field and Excel TECC could help you with it, don’t hesitate to apply for it,” Saffar said. “Ignore what people say. Most people who think it’s bad won’t be there for the rest of your life. Do what’s best for you.”

While Excel TECC has been gaining popularity, kids that are hesitant still should be able to see the bright side of joining a program that has seen tremendous improvement and success in recent years.

“The problem is that people still think of it as the old ‘vocational education,’ kids think it’s just for underperforming students, but that is totally false,” Nowak said. “It’s just an old stigma that does not apply because it’s not vocational anymore; it’s called career technical education. These are 21st century skills that kids need. Skills that will help some kids for the rest of their lives.”