Cool at School: Greene County CTC

The Greene Country Career & Technology Center (GCCTC), located in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania offers 11 professional programs to high school students and adult students with a goal of having a program to reach nearly every career and educational goal. They now have a chance to offer even more opportunities after acquiring a new 16,000 square foot facility from Iron Senergy, located off Route 218 at 158 Portal Road just three miles south of Waynesburg, located on 47 acres of land.

“None of this would have been possible without the help of Iron Senergy and the collaboration of our five surrounding districts,” said Administrative Director Mark Krupa. “This facility offers us a once in a lifetime opportunity for our students, allowing us to offer programs that we couldn’t imagined offering before.”

The process of acquiring the facility took around a year to complete as GCCTC had several meetings with Iron Senergy to make the deal happen.

“Until we had our meeting with Iron Senergy I didn’t even know the new facility existed” said Krupa. “When we sat down with Iron Senergy, we were able to acquire the property after expressing a want to add more programs and create more opportunities for our students. We can’t thank Iron Senergy enough for this donation.”

The biggest benefit of the new facility for GCCTC is the space they now have to potentially expand two of their biggest programs which are welding fabrication and cosmetology programs. The new facility will also host both the LPN program and the new Heavy Equipment Operations program. The expansion has allowed programs to grow with the students and teachers renovating the space by themselves to make it their own. The new facility includes several simulated workspaces for the LPN program and will serve as a housing facility for the Heavy Equipment vehicles that students will be training on in their courses.

“The biggest thing offered (with the new facility) is the space offered,” said Krupa. “It allows us to have the space required for the new heavy equipment program, and we have built a simulated workspace for our Healthcare students. The facility includes one classroom as well as six healthcare simulations that include a triage, Doctor’s Office, and a Labor Delivery room just to name a few.”

In the LPN program alone, the new facility has helped GCCTC add 20 additional students for the 2023-2024 school year. GCCTC is looking to continue this expansion with the new facility as they look at bringing in more students and offering even more programs to accommodate different career paths. 

“The additional programs we can offer thanks to this facility will create more and more opportunities for our students,” said Krupa. “We have already added more and more students to the CTC programs, and we are looking at offering an additional welding program or a Cosmetology program in the near future. Which would allow us to accommodate 40 more students with the expanded space.”

For more information about GCCTC, the expanded facility, and program offered, visit their website at www.greenectc.org

About Zack Zeigler

Zack Zeigler is a 25-year-old native of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. He came down to Greene County for college when he attended Waynesburg University and fell in love with the small town feel. Zeigler currently works as a Promotions Coordinator at Steel City Media, which owns 96.9 BOB FM and Q92.9 FM while also writing for the GreeneScene Magazine. In his spare time, Zeigler is a huge baseball fan and loves his Pittsburgh Pirates, no matter how bad they are sometimes. He is also a fan of musical theater and loves going to plays and musicals with his soon-to-be wife Michelle Frye. He enjoys covering sports in the Greene County area because he likes to give the athletes the recognition they deserve for all the hard work they put in day in and day out. “These student-athletes put in a lot of work both on the field and in the classroom,” said Zeigler. “To be able to see that hard work come to fruition on the field is one of the best feelings ever. I want to make sure that all Greene County student-athletes know that their hard work is appreciated by all.”