A Schalmont High School senior who dreams of a career as a history teacher but really likes electricity is able to pursue both thanks to the efforts of Schalmont and Capital Region BOCES faculty and staff. 

Logan Koch is in the second year of the Electrical Trades program at the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center – Schoharie Campus but was nearly forced to choose between finishing that program and getting a head start on college due a scheduling issue. Koch is also enrolled in a Syracuse University Public Policy course through Schalmont and the latter course started before he would have returned from his Electrical Trades program at BOCES.

“I was nervous I was going to have to change classes or programs, but BOCES and Schalmont were able to make it work. This has been awesome,” said Koch while taking a break from bending pipe before his fellow classmates arrived.

Instead of dropping either the program or class, Koch arrives at CTE 30 minutes early every day to get the requisite class time and then makes his way to Schalmont in time to start his college course.

“I was happy to be able to accommodate Logan. He is an ambitious young man with great potential,” said Electrical Trades teacher Curtis Van Steele.

Schalmont school officials were equally pleased to accommodate the student’s aspirations.

“We see more and more students taking both high-level courses and CTE programs,” said Schalmont Middle & High School Principal Matthew Heckman.

“We’re fortunate to have such a great partnership with Capital Region BOCES where we can work together to ensure students like Logan can take advantage of multiple learning opportunities.”

Koch plans to attend college next year in pursuit of a teaching degree. He also plans to work in the electrical industry.

“Thanks to this program, I have a skill set that will allow him to make money on the side to pay back my college loans,” he said.

Koch said he enjoys the “hands-on nature of electrical work and the sense of accomplishment he gets.”

He is among more than 100 students from across the Capital Region enrolled in the Electrical Trades program that is offered on the Schoharie and Albany campuses.

The program teaches students the fundamental skills in electrical theory through classroom instruction and hands-on shop lessons. Through this training, they can become successful residential, commercial, and industrial wiring professionals.