Who needs a plumber? Harlingen schools expanding career options

HARLINGEN — Everybody needs a plumber, right? But not everybody gets to be one.

The Harlingen school district wants to clear the way for its students to learn a skill that, although not the most glamorous, can earn a very good wage. And there will always be a demand for plumbers.

That course work may become available in the fall of 2018 along with certifications in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), said Alicia Noyola, chief academic officer.

“We will absolutely launch that,” said Noyola. “HVAC and plumbing will be part of the Apprenticeship Academy.”

The Apprenticeship Academy is one of six groups of courses with a concentrated focus on a particular area of interest. This Academy currently offers certifications in welding, electrical, masonry and construction. The HVAC and plumbing will increase that number to six.

School administrators are still working out the details of the coursework. Noyola said the coursework won’t be taught by current staff.

“You need specialists,” she said. “You need people that work in that industry.”

She compared this hiring and teaching process to that used in the electrical classes.

“We had to identify people with that skill set that would come in and teach,” she said. “Same thing with the welding. Once we defined the program we had to identify instructors.”

Part of the hiring process will be determined by the demand.

“If the numbers materialize and we need a full-time teacher we would hire a full-time teacher,” she said. “However, if the numbers are such that we only need two classes, we would hire somebody as a part-time staff member.”

The drones are coming

The school district is planning to open another Academy called Innovative Technology. That Academy will offer studies in drone technology, cyber security, telecommunications and other related fields.

“Within that Innovative Technology Academy is where you’re going to see these types of pathways that are really responsive,” she said. “We call it innovative technology because all of them, to some degree, are responsive to technology. So it’s not technology in the form of computers which is what we typically think, but really how that technology is used.”

Noyola emphasized this academy is still in development.

“We still don’t know how that end product will look like but we know those are the ones we want to explore,” she said.