GWC offers vocational training

With the rising cost of a college education, people need to know there is an alternative: vocational education. The George Washington Carver Training and Educational Center, located on US Route 15 about seven miles south of Culpeper, offers many vocational education opportunities to people in our community.

The school initially opened in 1948, housing black students from Culpeper, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock counties. In 1964 the four counties began integrating their students, but students remaining at the school had the choice to stay until they graduated in 1968. In 1969 the school became The Piedmont Vocational School, in 1979 was again “George Washington Carver,” today it is The George Washington Carver Training and Educational Center.

The school offers courses in carpentry, a heavy equipment operator course ( three, six, or nine week levels), and they also house a lineman apprenticeship class. Germanna Community College holds its automotive course there, and GED and adult education classes as well as gymnastics classes are held at the school.

Learning hands-on skills is invaluable in today’s world, and now Associated Training Services (ATS) is offering a state approved course at GWC that will provide you with the skills necessary to hold a Virginia Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). The first class started in September, and a new group of students began their training this past Monday. It is a fast-paced and intensive three weeks of training, starting with one week of classroom instruction, followed by two weeks of actual “behind the wheel” training and practice.

Instructor Herb Miller uses two tractor-trailer units for training. Students learn to do their “pre-trip inspection” on the truck and trailer, followed by exercises in backing the unit, shifting gears (smoothly), and maneuvering both forward and backward between and around highway cones.

Safety is the key issue. Having been a professional driver for most of his life, he has one main goal and that is to put safe drivers behind the wheel of those big trucks. Miller said, “Safety is what it’s all about. When you hold a CDL license you have an obligation to be professional, courteous, and most of all, safe on the highways. Most people do not realize the weight tractor trailers carry and therefore cannot comprehend the fact that it takes a lot longer to stop a loaded tractor-trailer than it does a car. It is my job to make my students aware that there are a lot of people out there who do stupid things on the road, but it’s the CDL driver’s responsibility to be aware, be proactive, and ready for whatever might happen. Most car-truck accidents are caused by the driver of the car, not the driver of the truck. They just do not understand the physics of it – and 84,000 pound unit versus a 3,500 pound automobile.”

Once the basics are mastered Miller takes them out on the highway. With the ATS logo and “Student Driver” signs on the truck, they drive on open road first, but before the end of the course he has them coming through town, down-shifting, up-shifting, and turning tight corners in traffic. Once the students have passed the test that Miller gives them, they are scheduled to take their road test with the DMV official. Every one of Miller’s students has passed and now holds a Commercial Driver’s License. It is skill they will have for life. America’s needs move by truck – if you’ve got it, a truck brought it. For information on the course call (540) 825-5005.

Coming soon to GWC is the Piedmont Driver Improvement Clinic. If you successfully complete the eight-hour DMV approved class you will be awarded five plus points on your driving record.

Some people take the class because they are either court or DMV ordered, but a lot of people take it to get a reduction on their auto insurance rates or just to brush up on their defensive driving skills. Classes will be staring soon, and for more information you can call (540) 222-2322.