Schools see wind energy as new jobs-training frontier
Lyle Sclair, left, and Mariah Dignan, both from Community Offshore Wind, speak with South Huntington school board member Sidney Joyner at the exposition. Organizers described the event as the first large-scale meeting focused on job-training prospects for students enrolled in high schools. Credit: Newsday / Steve Pfost
Looking seaward for job opportunities is a Long Island tradition, and school leaders here have concluded it's time for students to consider that option once again.
The wind-turbine industry, also known as offshore energy, is the latest emerging career field to capture regional attention. Although the movement is in its early stages, state planners hope it will generate more than 10,000 high-paying jobs by 2035, along with enough electricity to power up to 6 million homes.
Underscoring this growing interest, more than 200 representatives of local school districts, industrial employers and other organizations gathered in Garden City on Thursday for an exposition on offshore wind energy.
Organizers described the event, held at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, as the first large-scale meeting focused on job-training prospects for students enrolled in high schools. Stony Brook University and Farmingdale State College already have started providing adult coursework in the offshore field.
Much of the vocational instruction for teens would most likely be offered by the Island's regional Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES. Those agencies already provide high-tech training for 11th- and 12th-graders.
BOCES leaders told Newsday they welcomed the chance.
"It looks like a tremendous opportunity for the kids in the trades," said Robert Dillon, superintendent of Nassau County's BOCES. "It hasn't been completely defined yet. But from what I've heard, what has been shared with me, they're going to need carpenters. They're going to need people who know plumbing. They're going to need people who know wiring, and there's an awful lot of computer technology involved with this."
In this region, the first turbines are due to be installed off Montauk's coast next year. On the downside, commercial fishermen have raised concerns about the impact wind turbines will have on marine life.
New York State government analysts, on the other hand, list more than two dozen career fields involved in planning, development and operation of offshore wind farms. Jobs range from engineers and financial analysts to port operators, pile drivers, ship crews and turbine technicians.
Another expo participant, Michael Kelly, who serves on Bethpage's school board, said some students in his district most likely would be interested in the careers described.
"We know offshore energy is up-and-coming, and we see a lot of opportunities for students," Kelly said. He is president of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, which presented Thursday's expo.
The association's executive director, Robert Vecchio, who spearheaded the event, told Newsday he expected career training in the offshore field to be available for high school students within two or three years. Some schools already have taken initial steps.
Eastern Suffolk BOCES, for example, added a certification course this year in composite prototyping. Leah Arnold, the organization's director for career and technical education, explained that such training could be applied to the manufacturing of replacement parts for offshore machinery, including turbine blades, that were made of composite materials.
James Stucchio, associate superintendent at Eastern Suffolk BOCES, joined in the general consensus that offshore wind projects could boost employment. "This is the future," he said.
Looking seaward for job opportunities is a Long Island tradition, and school leaders here have concluded it's time for students to consider that option once again.
The wind-turbine industry, also known as offshore energy, is the latest emerging career field to capture regional attention. Although the movement is in its early stages, state planners hope it will generate more than 10,000 high-paying jobs by 2035, along with enough electricity to power up to 6 million homes.
Underscoring this growing interest, more than 200 representatives of local school districts, industrial employers and other organizations gathered in Garden City on Thursday for an exposition on offshore wind energy.
Organizers described the event, held at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, as the first large-scale meeting focused on job-training prospects for students enrolled in high schools. Stony Brook University and Farmingdale State College already have started providing adult coursework in the offshore field.
Expo attendees view information on the offshore wind industry, which state planners hope will generate more than 10,000 high-paying jobs by 2035. Credit: Newsday / Steve Pfost
Much of the vocational instruction for teens would most likely be offered by the Island's regional Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES. Those agencies already provide high-tech training for 11th- and 12th-graders.
BOCES leaders told Newsday they welcomed the chance.
"It looks like a tremendous opportunity for the kids in the trades," said Robert Dillon, superintendent of Nassau County's BOCES. "It hasn't been completely defined yet. But from what I've heard, what has been shared with me, they're going to need carpenters. They're going to need people who know plumbing. They're going to need people who know wiring, and there's an awful lot of computer technology involved with this."
In this region, the first turbines are due to be installed off Montauk's coast next year. On the downside, commercial fishermen have raised concerns about the impact wind turbines will have on marine life.
New York State government analysts, on the other hand, list more than two dozen career fields involved in planning, development and operation of offshore wind farms. Jobs range from engineers and financial analysts to port operators, pile drivers, ship crews and turbine technicians.
Another expo participant, Michael Kelly, who serves on Bethpage's school board, said some students in his district most likely would be interested in the careers described.
"We know offshore energy is up-and-coming, and we see a lot of opportunities for students," Kelly said. He is president of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, which presented Thursday's expo.
The association's executive director, Robert Vecchio, who spearheaded the event, told Newsday he expected career training in the offshore field to be available for high school students within two or three years. Some schools already have taken initial steps.
Eastern Suffolk BOCES, for example, added a certification course this year in composite prototyping. Leah Arnold, the organization's director for career and technical education, explained that such training could be applied to the manufacturing of replacement parts for offshore machinery, including turbine blades, that were made of composite materials.
James Stucchio, associate superintendent at Eastern Suffolk BOCES, joined in the general consensus that offshore wind projects could boost employment. "This is the future," he said.
John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.
