ROYAL OAK, Mich. - For the last two years, The News has been working with Oakland County Schools to help create a new HVACR program for the school district. School officials and News staffers worked to establish a secondary training program to create a viable career path for young people interested in HVACR, as well as a resource to help area contractors find new technicians.

After the school district decided to set up the program at the Oakland Technical Center Royal Oak campus, Rob Featherstone was hired as the new instructor. Next, renovations were completed to create a space for the program at the campus. Manufacturers, with help from the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), donated equipment. Companies such as ECR International, Effical International, Trane, Lennox, and Testo donated everything from large pieces of equipment, such as boilers and high-efficiency furnaces, to smaller pieces, such as test tools. Last month, the equipment was hooked up in the lab, which will provide students with the opportunity to get a hands-on education with a variety of systems.

Although students were enrolled in the new HVACR program last year, students enrolled in the 2004-2005 school year will have full access to the new lab. The News will provide updates on the program in the coming months.

Publication date: 07/05/2004