Compact Member A.W. Beattie Career Center Shows Off New LEED-Certified Building

November 19, 2010 - The A.W. Beattie Career Center is a regional leader, not only in providing career exposure and training for the region's future workers, but also by constructing and maintaining environmentally sustainable buildings. In fact, the Center recently held a grand opening of a "greener" sort to celebrate a renovation that's made it one of the first career and technical education centers in Pennsylvania to achieve LEED certification … and it's going for the gold!

A recent Post-Gazette article details the renovation and the facility's commitment to sustainability. At the Center, students from area high schools can participate in advanced, career-oriented training in fields ranging from culinary arts to robotics. Located in the North Hills, the facility provides an integrative educational experience, combining traditional academic offerings with a career-preparatory curriculum. More than half of the fastest-growing jobs in the Pittsburgh region require more schooling than a high-school diploma but less than a four-year degree. Considering this fact, the the Beattie Center is blazing the trail for a more career- and market-oriented educational model. Combating outdated notions of career and technical schools as solitary vocational offerings, the Beattie Center partners with area high schools and regional colleges and universities. In addition to the customary course offerings accredited by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Beattie center offers students the challenges of using and mastering state-of-the art technology. Beattie Center Executive Director Kathy Ingram explains,

"…If [students] opt to get a job as soon as they graduate, they are trained to do that. But if they opt to go on … to college, we have agreements set up across the state so that students can take courses at the Center for credits that will transfer to the colleges they may attend. The decision isn't just go to work or to college; both are possible for students who come here."

Enrolled high school students spend one half of the day in their district's high school and the other half at the Beattie Center. This arrangement allows dually-enrolled high school students to gain early career exposure that can aid them in making decisions about their future.

The Pittsburgh Regional Compact congratulates the A.W. Beattie Career Center staff and students on their many achievements.

The Pittsburgh Regional Compact is an employer-driven initiative collaboratively
sponsored by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, business
leaders, educators, students, educational institutions and workforce development
organizations across the 10-county Pittsburgh region.