A few days before school resumed Wednesday, a handful of Gaston County students drove dump trucks, climbed utility poles and saw what the inside of a cat looks like, all simulated as part of a test run for the school district’s new career-learning lab.

Brett Buchanan, Gaston County’s career technology director, says the inspiration came while watching middle school students explore the National Homebuilders Association’s traveling exhibit using virtual reality equipment that simulates construction-related work.

“I’ve never seen students so engaged and motivated, wanting to try everything,” Buchanan said. “And that’s really because they like the format. It’s like a game to them.”

The district had vacant space at the old Forest Heights Elementary School in western Gastonia. It had federal grants from the Summer Career Accelerator program that could be used for “workforce-focused” projects. And it received enthusiastic support from its Business Advisory Council.

Buchanan says that since the pandemic, local employers have been happy to work with the school district on anything that helps them recruit qualified workers.

“There is an acute shortage of talent everywhere. They want to build a talent pool,” he said.

This school year, students in grades 5-12 have year-round access to three classrooms equipped with numerous exploration tools.

Try out different skills

For example, students can practice paramedic skills on a CPR manikin in the back of an ambulance. Cameras allow instructors and classmates to see who is working inside. The simulator, provided in partnership with Gaston Emergency Medical Services, has flashing lights but no driving component. But high school students who earn a paramedic certification can learn the driving portion in school.

Also for students interested in medical fields – human or veterinary – there is an “anatomy table” with a large screen that offers 3D views of humans and animals, including cats, dogs, horses and reptiles. Users can scroll from the skeleton to internal organs and muscles to the skin.

“This is something you typically see at a health care university,” Buchanan said.

The center features virtual reality headsets programmed to simulate 20 jobs, such as preparing meals, spray painting a car or working on power poles.

“I’ve done it personally and when you look down you get a sense of how high it is,” Buchanan said. That can be a good reality check for students, he said. “It might sound great. It might make a lot of money. But are you ready to be that high up?”

Victoria Kannon, a final year student at the Gaston Virtual Academy, tried working on airplane wheels virtually.

“I was standing on the asphalt with the wheels and everything. It felt like I was really there,” she said.

Career coordinator Jon Robinson led his 15-year-old daughter, Kennedi, through a welding simulation. Robinson says girls tend to do better at welding than boys. “They have that steady hand. They’re able to do very well at welding,” he said.

This can help overcome gender barriers in the search for a lucrative job. “In this field, we have to expect $100,000 to start as a welder,” Robinson said.

Kennedi said she doesn’t plan on becoming a welder, but “it’s really cool to learn how to do it.”

Then there are the three heavy equipment simulators. Buchanan says you can try out different settings: “Excavator, backhoe, dump truck, skid steer, crane.” The driver uses a steering wheel, joystick and pedals to navigate the tracks and complete tasks while the seat moves to give a realistic feel. If you hit something or your vehicle rolls over, you’ll feel it. But of course, no one will be hurt and nothing will be damaged.

“When we work with our local business partners, some of them say they would use this exact equipment before they would trust someone with a half-million-dollar or a million-dollar piece of equipment,” he said.

Academics are not enough

The virtual career center is part of a nationwide trend to encourage students to learn about career paths early on. It’s no longer enough for schools to push children to get good grades, do well on exams and graduate from high school. Students need to plan for what comes next, whether that’s going to college or gaining qualifications to go straight into a job.

“My ultimate goal is to dispel the myth, ‘Let’s think about education first.’ We need to be able to talk about career first and then plan how to get there,” Buchanan said. “Whether you need further education or not, the question is ‘What is the career?'”

Buchanan says state education officials plan to tour the center. He says they are intrigued by the use of federal COVID-19 aid to create something with lasting benefits.

In the meantime, he will work with school principals to schedule student visits and recruit business partners to speak, organize events and offer job opportunities.

Buchanan says the career center is designed to open students’ eyes and stimulate discussion, not to push them down a particular path.

“Just come here,” he said. “Touch, feel, see. And hopefully you’ll learn something you didn’t know.”