Twenty students were recognized during the WNY P-TECH Senior Advancement Ceremony held in Dunkirk.

Students enrolled in WNY P-TECH College & Career Academy in Dunkirk had plenty to celebrate recently.

P-TECH staff, students and families were able to gather in person this year for the WNY P-TECH Senior Advancement Ceremony to recognize seniors who are continuing on to Jamestown Community College, pursuing a four-year degree or entering the workforce.

“What seemed like a journey I wasn’t going to enjoy turned out to be the best experience and decision I have ever made. I am proud to have been part of the P-TECH program and all it has to offer,” said Senior Class Representative and National Honor Society member Jailene Jimenez of Dunkirk. “As I continue my journey into my future I will smile knowing that others like me will start the path into P-TECH and will join me in the future of advancing technology and the world of opportunities.”

This summer, Jailene joins Chase Cooper of Gowanda as one of two students who earned an internship with IBM and a number of seniors who have found work in the local area, including Mason Grudzien of Gowanda with Basil Chevrolet; Eric Raynor of Falconer with Dunkirk Metal Products; Gavin Swanson of Jamestown with Luscombe Aircraft; and Chase Cooper and Makenzie Lawton of Pine Valley who have been hired at Ring Precision.

“We’ve already been blessed to hire three students out of this program and we’re also going to have three interns start as well,” said Dale Gier, President and CEO of Ring Precision and the P-TECH Business Partner of the Year recipient. “As a manufacturer and someone who employees a lot of people, we’re excited to partner with Mr. Smock and P-TECH. I hope that in future years we can hire more and more of the students coming out of this program.”

P-TECH is an all-day program housed in a state-of-the-art facility located at 55 East Benton St., Dunkirk. Students enroll in P-TECH as ninth graders and follow one of two pathways in welding and mechanical technology with specializations in CADD or machine tool and earn an associate degree through Jamestown Community College with no out-of-pocket expense.

During the Senior Advancement Ceremony, P-TECH recognized cohort 1 students Jordan Butterfield of Lake Shore, Whitney Hice and Luke Peterson-Riedesel of Dunkirk and Katlyn Lawton of Pine Valley, for their completion of the Jamestown Community College portion of the P-TECH program.

“When making the tough decision rather or not to start at P-TECH at the end of eighth grade I was on edge. It was a long bus ride and leaving all of my friends. Then I went to my first Summer Bridge. I met my best friend Jack on the bus ride from Jamestown to LoGuidice, our old building at the time. After the principal flew the tech department’s new Phantom 3 drone into a pine tree and Richard Rasmus taught me how to use a 3-D printer for the first time I knew P-TECH was the place for me,” said Gavin Swanson during the ceremony’s closing remarks. “Today, I build and fly a small general aviation airplane at the Luscombe Aircraft Corporation and I’m happy to say I use the skills I’ve acquired through Mr. Anson’s CADD classes almost every day. Anything from reverse engineering an instrument panel on Solidworks and plasma cutting a new one to resurfacing landing gear attachment brackets on our milling machines here at P-TECH.”

Additional speakers included William Smock, P-TECH principal; Iann Ramirez, Senior Class Representative and NHS member; Janeil Rey, Ph.D., E2CCB Director of Workforce Development; Erin Moynihan, P-TECH counselor; Jean Schrader, Dean of STEM at JCC; and NHS member Michael Mitchell of Dunkirk.

Seniors recognized include Gavin Cave of Dunkirk, Chase Cooper of Gowanda, Alexander Crow of Fredonia, Jeffrey DeYoung of Silver Creek, Nathan Edgar of Lake Shore, Dylan Gee of Fredonia, Mason Grudzien of Gowanda, Jailene Jimenez of Dunkirk, Alexander Kochanowski of Sherman, Michael Lamar of Brocton, Kyler Laskey of Dunkirk, Makenzie Lawton of Pine Valley, Michael Mitchell of Dunkirk, Abby Post of Pine Valley, Iann Ramirez of Dunkirk, Eric Raynor of Falconer, Jack Sturges of Jamestown, Gavin Swanson of Jamestown, Ian Szymanek of Silver Creek and Adam Thornton of Brocton.