(TNS) — In Donaldsonville, sparks fly four nights a week. There, inside a large building behind the high school, adult students hone their welding skills weekday evenings at the new technical training center. Taylor Duplessis, 23, has been taking the classes twice a week since they began in April.
"I have a 3-year old at home, so I figured I want a more stable job," the Gonzales resident said. "..
. You can't go and find a job any day like you can if you're a welder. So I want a better income .
.. my motivation is my daughter.
" A collaboration between Ascension Parish School Board and River Parishes Community College, the center features two classrooms and training space for welding, process technology and electrical instrumentation. Unveiled in March with significant fanfare, officials like Quintin Taylor, chancellor of RPCC, said it could be a "game-changer" in breaking the cycle of poverty. And so far, Taylor, instructors and students say it's paying off.
"This all started about ...
a year and a half ago in conversations," Taylor said, adding that the program was a team effort with the high school, school district and local governments. "We talked about it. People put the money where their mouths are.
I held my team accountable, and we got it done." The center, located in a previously unused wing of the high school, acts as a technical training center for students during the day and as a high school equivalency and job readiness training center in the evenings. And since a.