WILMINGTON — There are about 120 more incoming students this fall at Laurel Oaks Career Campus than there were last fall.
Altogether, there are 470 incoming students who are newly entering Laurel Oaks this year.
The total student body will be comprised of about 760 juniors and seniors who will attend the new career campus building, with its striking exterior and an inviting interior. Laurel Oaks Career Campus unveiled its gleaming, $42-million expansion and renovation project just last September.
A 2022-2023 open house was held on Thursday afternoon and evening for the incoming as well as returning students, with many of the teenaged students accompanied by parents.
The open house checklist of activities for students began with a visit to their particular career lab where they picked up their schedule and had the opportunity to ask questions of the instructor/teacher.
Then they had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the expansive building and its very wide hallways and the still new equipment in the labs.
Incoming students hopefully shed some of their nerves along the way as they get ready to make a big transition to a new building and mostly new fellow students from the tri-county region of Clinton, Fayette and Highland counties.
Returning students had a chance to catch up with friends they haven’t seen all summer, and they had plenty of comfortable furnishings in the open spaces to sit and do just that.
Laurel Oaks Career Campus has a new dean, Andy McCool, and a new assistant dean, Jillian Richmond. With the move to Laurel Oaks, McCool now has worked at all four Great Oaks Career Campuses — Diamond, Live, Scarlet, and now Laurel.
Laurel Oaks offers 18 career programs: animal science and management; auto refinishing and collision repair; auto service technician; aviation maintenance technician; CareerX; construction technologies; cosmetology; dental assisting; digital arts and design; early childhood education; equine science and management; exercise science and sports medicine; health technology; heating / ventilating / air conditioning (HVAC); heavy equipment operations and engineering; industrial diesel mechanics; IT Academy; and welding.
The HVAC program is new this fall. For clarification purposes, “CareerX” is a Career Exploration and Employability Skills program for students with special needs.
The Wilmington campus of Great Oaks primarily serves students from Clinton, Fayette and Highland counties.
Laurel Oaks Career Campus is located adjacent to the Wilmington Air Park.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.