By Kate Wallace
You may have seen SCTCC at Summertime By George these past few years, staffing a table where you can grab some goodies and learn more about the college. When we go to that event, we have a lot of alumni stop by and tell us that they went to the college – whether it’s the last ten years as SCTCC or when it was still called the AVTI (Area Vocational Technical Institute).
And since it's our 75th Anniversary, this past June, we asked a few alumni if they’d be willing to chat about their time at the College.
LeRoy Hanson, Sartell
LeRoy Hanson was the first person to mentioned they were an alumni of the College at our June event. We sat down under our tent and battled the noise from the band playing and the people having fun.
LeRoy was released from the Navy in 1970 and was eligible for the GI Bill, so he came to SCTCC for Auto Body in 1973. He was a little leery about going back to school because he wasn’t traditionally aged, but his worries were for nothing because half the students were veterans. He fit right in.
After graduating, LeRoy got into truck sales for 13 years then insurance adjusting for 25 years. After that? He went back to the SCTCC campus to get his CDL license and drove truck for 10 years before retiring. And that’s not all he’s done at SCTCC!
“I also spent 25 years on the advisory board for the classes,” said LeRoy. “I get around there pretty good yet!”
Nancy Westphall, St. Cloud
When Nancy Westphall first started at SCTCC, she was trying to become a nurse.
“I couldn’t put an IV in (a mannequin). They said ‘Oh you just killed the patient’ and I decided that wasn’t the career for me,” she said, laughing.
Instead, Nancy went into Developmental Needs Assistant, which is similar to the Early Childhood Education program now. She recalled that sign language was not her forte, but otherwise the classes were fun, but not easy.
After graduating, Nancy was a nanny, worked at a childcare center, then taught preschool and toddlers. Now she works at a group home for adults, who she brought with her to Summertime By George that evening. While it’s not with children, she does get to use her skills for her work in the group home.
She’s a huge proponent of making sure you learn what you’re there to learn and the career you choose is the career you want.
“Learn something new every day! Even after you graduate, you’re going to learn something new every day.”
Greg Wentworth, Clear Lake
Greg Wentworth remembers working on customer vehicles while he was at SCTCC in the Medium/Heavy Truck (diesel) program. Because the College didn’t own vehicles for the students to work on, they ran the lab like a shop.
Overall, he enjoyed his learning experience, and remembers that, “I was one of the first St. Cloud AVTI students that Bauerly Brothers hired.”
After graduating in 1987, Greg was a diesel mechanic up until four years ago, and now he’s trainer.
His advice for students?
“Try. Biggest thing is to get in and try. People look to see if you put an effort in.”
Shelley Goff, St. Cloud
“Happy birthday!” exclaimed Texas-born Shelley Goff when we told her we were celebrating our 75th Anniversary. We applauded with her, but…how does a native Texan decide to relocate to Minnesota?
“I love fishing and there’s 10,000 lakes,” explained Shelley. “I love that there’s a diverse education system here, and I’m a career student.”
Shelley went through the six-week Manufacturing Associate program offered by Career Solutions and Customized Training, which took place at SCTCC. She received her certificate just this past May 2023.
Her day job is as a clinical rehab massage therapist, but she wanted to learn welding to use it for manufacturing and art. When we interviewed her, Shelley had a feature at the Paramount as well as a few features around town.
The flexibility of the certificate classes and the fact that they were accelerated really appealed to her. She enjoyed the one-on-one time and that the classes weren’t too big. Since she grew up on a farm welding, she had some experience, but learned that she really liked fabrication and plasma welding.
Shelley is the type of person who’s up for anything new. She spent 25 years in search and rescue and was looking for a change in addition to her career as a massage therapist. Taking more classes either through Customized Training or SCTCC isn’t out of the question for her.
“You have all the opportunities and tools available to you to succeed and try something new.”
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