Getting hands-on experience

Andrew D. Brosig
Posted 11/21/18

Students from around eastern Wyoming got a hands-on look at some of the programs at Eastern Wyoming College during annual Technology Day on Thursday at the school.

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Getting hands-on experience

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TORRINGTON – Students from around eastern Wyoming got a hands-on look at some of the programs at Eastern Wyoming College during annual Technology Day on Thursday at the school.

From agriculture to wselding, Technology Day highlights the various programs offered at EWC, organizer Zach Smith, director of enrollment management for the college, said. It’s one of the primary outreach efforts at the school to attract students and interest them in attending EWC by giving them a taste of what they’ll be doing in class.

Technology Day is “a hands-on event to showcase some of our more technical majors,” Smith said. “Even in business, we have a couple of session to introduce students (and) give them an opportunity to check out EWC in general and to dive in to some of the different majors.”

This year’s Technology Day brought some 200 students from across the EWC outreach areas, including Glenrock, Newcastle, Guernsey, Upton and Wheatland. With the addition of expanded programs through the Career and Technology Education Center, the Technology Day programs have grown as well.

“We have such a great welding program, a lot of students from the service area are able to get in there and do some hands-on events,” Smith said. “Cosmetology and barbering sessions have been a big hit in the past.”

By Monday, Smith was already getting feedback from some of the teachers and guidance counselors who attended with their students. And, so far, it’s been positive.

He related the story of one student who’d been on the fence about attending EWC. But, his counselors said, after learning about the accounting programs offered by EWC, he’d made his decision and will be attending the college in the near future, Smith said.

The advantage to the format of Technology Day is in the hands-on activities, he said. In the past, for example, demonstrators in the Agriculture Department had wanted to show off their remote drone to the visiting students. They got the chance this year, Smith said, and it was a hit.

“We had good weather,” he said. “We were able to show students how we use that technology in connection with precision agriculture classes.”

The hands-on aspect engages the students better than “just bringing students to campus and sitting in a classroom, getting a lecture,” Smith said. “We want to make this a fun, interactive experience for the students.”