NMCC students shine during recent open house
PRESQUE ISLE — Current students, faculty and staff at Northern Maine Community College brought the campus to life on a recent Saturday morning for the college’s Trade and Technical Occupation Department’s open house. Students from each of the 12 trade programs set up informational displays and spoke one-on-one to participants about the programs they are enrolled in and gave demonstrations on various pieces of equipment.
Contributed photo
PRECISION MACHINING STUDENT David Wentworth, right, talks about the program and equipment to Jon Rayborn of Midstate Berkshire in Winslow, during the recent NMCC Trade & Technical Department’s open house. Midstate Berkshire maintains a 250,000 square-foot manufacturing facility with more than 100 state-of-the-art, multi-axis CNC machines. This is one of the many companies that NMCC works with who are looking for potential quality-trained employees.
“Students put themselves out there and acted very professional,” said Pam Buck, department chair. “They are all very proud of attending NMCC and wanted everyone to know the quality of education they receive here.”
This is the first open house in several years at the college. In recent years, many of the programs in the Trade and Technical Department have gone through significant changes and improvements including, but not limited to, a completely remodeled welding shop, new equipment in the precision machining area, and a 3D laser scanner and printer in the computer-aided drafting room. The faculty decided it was time to invite people to tour the state-of-the-art facilities and see the areas that most people don’t have the opportunity to explore.
Several traveled to the event from throughout Aroostook County while some families made the trip from central and southern Maine.
“I was pleased with the number of families that came through to find out more about our programs and what we offer at the college,” said Dottie Martin, NMCC’s academic dean. “Parents were asking all the right questions to help ease their mind about sending their child off to college.”
The college plans to offer a campus-wide open house next spring.
