SHELBY, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—Pioneer Career and Technology Center is wrapping up its academic year with a wave of student celebrations, major infrastructure expansions, and high-paying job placements for its graduates.
Greg Nickoli of Pioneer recently joined Community Spotlight to discuss the school’s busy spring season, which highlighted the graduation of 617 high school seniors. Because of the large class size, the school’s senior celebration—where students receive their career passports detailing their earned credentials and skills—had to be split into two separate ceremonies to accommodate families.
The school year concludes on Friday, May 29, a date extended by one day due to winter weather cancellations.
A major highlight of the year was the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Pioneer’s new Advanced Manufacturing Center. Funded through a construction and renovation grant from the 2023 state budget, the project converted and expanded a portion of the school’s maintenance building. The new center now houses a second welding lab, a precision machining lab, and an industrial maintenance lab. By shifting precision machining to the new facility, Pioneer freed up space in its main building to create a dedicated electrical trades lab.
The new center accommodates 100 high school students—split evenly between juniors and seniors—while serving local employers. Area businesses have already utilized the new welding lab for customized employee training, and the facility hosts adult education classes in the evenings. Pioneer’s adult education program is also preparing for its upcoming graduation, expecting between 180 and 190 graduates from the past academic year.
Nickoli highlighted the success of Pioneer’s early job placement program, noting that nearly 200 seniors are already working in their respective fields during the school year. Many of these students are earning wages between $25 and $27 an hour in the skilled trades before even receiving their high school diplomas.
Pioneer also recently hosted the 30th annual Crawford County Best Awards, an event recognizing students from all six county high schools and Pioneer who demonstrate an exceptional work ethic and positive attitude, rather than focusing solely on grade point averages.