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New industrial tech facility encourages Iowa City High students to pursue skills after graduation

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Up until this year, industrial tech students at Iowa City High School have used everything from an old elementary school building to a makeshift work site near the track field. Now that they have a permanent facility, one teacher tells me the students are motivated more now than ever.

For Annika Harvey n interest in industrial arts isn’t new, but a new area to further explore her skills and abilities is.

“I’ve always been a hands-on person, I love the problem-solving skills,” she told TV-9. “It’s a completely different process and way of thinking about things than your regular school classes.”

The space used to be a cafeteria for City High students.

Now, it’s used to open up new perspectives on the art according to industrial arts teacher, John Reynolds.

“You can switch from job to job and always have a skill to jump back to if you decide to have a career change. You always know you have this skill set that you can use when needed,” said Reynolds.

In a time where labor shortages are affecting so many areas of business, this update is proving to mean that much more to both teachers and students.

“They may never use these skills to make money, but of course they may use them at their own home or when they’re working on projects, etc,” said Reynolds.

“It is something where I could graduate high school, decide to take a gap year, go work for a construction company. Otherwise, it’s just amazing skills to have for my own projects or whatever I do,” said Harvey.

Reynolds offers several classes that are very in industrial skill level.

On average, 30 students are signed up for the program, but given this upgrade, they expect even more in the coming years.

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