Tec Voc eyes industry experience

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This article was published 25/01/2022 (1380 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Technical Vocational High School’s chef instructor Livia Gloux knows a thing or two about school spirit.

Gloux, a Tec Voc graduate herself, has been teaching the culinary arts program for over a decade.

“I’m a Tec Voc Hornet through and through. Think green, act gold, be a hornet,” Gloux said, over the hum of the kitchen’s industrial ventilation hoods. “I think everything we do in this school really keeps that motto alive.”

Gloux is proud to say that students come from as far away as Gimli and Steinbach to attend Tec Voc (the school’s specialized programs allow it to enrol students from outside the catchment).

Tec Voc has four other accredited programs in addition to the culinary arts program. If a student earns all eight credits in any of these courses, while keeping their grades north of 70 per cent, they can secure a level one accreditation through Apprenticeship Manitoba.

Like Gloux, dental technology instructor Julius Grosz has a long history with Tec Voc. This is Grosz’s 25th year the program, which has been around for roughly twice that time.

“This year we managed to co-ordinate our program with all of the colleges across Canada, which is really good,” Grosz said. “When you got a high school that is on par with the colleges across Canada, it’s just a wonderful thing for the students.”

Tec Voc’s dental technology program is the only program of its kind in a high school setting in North America.

“It’s quite a unique situation for the Winnipeg School Division to have a dentistry program of this nature in a high school, under the umbrella of medicine,” Grosz said.

He added that some program graduates have pursued careers in nursing, radiology and pharmacy — jobs that tap into a similar knowledge base.  

This semester, Tech Voc students are working on everything from metallurgy to edible fruit arrangements. Some students in Gloux’s culinary program are taking up garde manger, the art of cold, intricately plated dishes.

Grosz is teaching students how to cast a suite of gold, stainless steel, platinum, and palladium alloys.

In the next room over, students have access to digital dentistry tools, including a 3D printer.

“This is beautiful stuff here. It mimics a high-end laboratory,” Grosz beamed.

While the culinary arts program may not have a direct connection to the dental technology program, the cooks-in-training do work with the photography and graphic communications department to prepare menues, from scratch.

“We collaborate with every program in this school,” Gloux said. “We’re a really big family here at Tec Voc High School. Everybody works together.”

Sylvia Martin is Tec Voc’s aerospace co-ordinator and also works in student services. Martin said there’s a misconception that Tec Voc’s trades are limited to the classics like automotive technology and carpentry. The school currently has 19 technical programs.

“We partner with a lot of industry to give our students different exposure,” Martin said. “A lot of our partners right now are asking for welding and manufacturing technology.”

Tec Voc is accepting registrations for the fall semester until March 11. A full catalogue of program’s is available for download from the school’s website.