CLEARFIELD- Jerome Mick is the Information Technology instructor at the Clearfield County Career & Technology Center (CCCTC).
At the end of this hands-on, two-year program, Information Technology students will have earned 1,250 hours of training, which includes 10 hours of OSHA, TestOut IT Fundamentals Pro, TestOut PC Pro, CompTIA IT Fundamentals+, CompTIA A+, and, this fall, the Red Hat Certified System Administrator.
Mick has always had a love of technology starting at a young age. He graduated from Philipsburg- Osceola Area High School and went on to graduate from the South Hills School of Business and Technology. He went on to work in the Information Technology (IT) field as an IT specialist before becoming an instructor at CCCTC.
Mick says becoming an instructor at CCCTC gives him great pride in watching students grow and he adds that he has the best job in the world.
He researched and developed the IT curriculum off of CompTIA A+, which is an industry standard certification that certifies a computer technician in the subject area. The program has since evolved and now the TestOut certification is offered with the Linux Red Hat certification being offered this fall.
Students in the program have the opportunity to build a custom personal computer (PC). Students must identify computer hardware and choose the parts to build with, which helps them understand how it all works.
Students also work on setting up a server and a local network inside the classroom. They learn productivity software, computer maintenance and troubleshooting, computer fundamentals, networking, computer repair and more.
Mick says, “Every student has a different story to tell. Sometimes they come in not knowing their abilities but once they gain the confidence, they understand they can do anything they set their mind to. That is the most important thing I want my students to get out of my program.”
CCCTC Information Technology graduates have achieved many different careers from the program, such as software developers, system administrators, pc technicians, cellular store managers, nuclear engineers, and go on to further their education at a post-secondary institution.
Mick says that “in today’s world, technology is becoming part of our everyday lives. We will need great young men and women to step up and take care of the technology that is out now, and in the future, not only in the physical but also in the digital world.
“Cyber security is at an all-time high. There are many high demand jobs available in the IT field and not enough skilled workers to fill them.”