Boyd freshmen learn about STEAM careers at ACTC

June 16, 2022

ASHLAND, Ky. – Ashland Community and Technical College was honored to be the first stop at Boyd County High School’s STEAM Academy last week. 

The camp, which included over twenty incoming BCHS freshman, gave students opportunities to learn about career opportunities available to them in science, technology, engineering, art, or math. 

"ACTC is thankful for the partnership we have with Boyd County Schools,” said Brittany Spillman, admissions recruiter.  “We were thrilled to host day one of their STEAM week on our campus. It is safe to say we all had a blast and learned a lot. We are glad students in our community have this type of opportunity to learn about various careers.” 

While at ACTC, students visited with Curtis Bowman, program coordinator of the welding program, where they learned about career opportunities in the field and had a chance to practice welding. Some students opted to work with the college’s 3D print pens, allowing them to create 3D objects out of the plastic that ran through it. 

They also met with Industrial Maintenance Technology program coordinator, Mark Smith, who spoke to students about robotics in industry and different career options in industrial maintenance. 

Students also learned about physics from ACTC instructor Victor Chupryna, who provided visual demonstrations of various physics concepts.

Dave Williams, a retired engineer from Marathon Petroleum also visited campus to talk to students about careers in engineering. 

“ACTC always provides high quality career and technical educational opportunities for our students at Boyd County Public Schools,” said Sheri Bonzo, Instructional Teacher Leader/Curriculum Specialist for Boyd County Schools. “We were especially excited that ACTC’s professional staff taught classes in welding, 3-D printing, robotics, industrial manufacturing, physics, and engineering for our 2022 9th grade STEAM Academy students.”