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2016 | Doing Business in Connecticut 29 cities and towns, Connecticut's is the only technical high school system in the country funded solely by the state. Graduates leave the schools not only with a high school diploma, but with a license to work in a trade or technology field. e system also serves about 500 adult educa- tion students. Torres, who became superintendent in 2014, says despite efforts to educate the pub- lic, misconceptions persist. Some still have an outdated view of certain careers as "dirty," or think "we're just dealing with the basics like a hammer and saw," she said. "If you visit our shops you'll see there are many computers and digitized equip- ment," she said. e E-house project at Prince, for exam- ple, has students installing solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems along with hanging sheetrock and craing cabinetry. e Prince E-house is one of three slated to open this fall, bringing the total to 13 since the program — the only one of its kind in the country — began five years ago at Goodwin Tech in New Britain. e program, designed to train young people for jobs in renewable energy fields, is funded by the Connecticut Energy Ef- ficiency Fund and Connecticut Green Bank. e state's utility companies, Eversource and United Illuminating, administer the program. While every E-house incorporates the latest in weatherization and energy-saving technology, each one is slightly different, said Ray Mencio and Pasquale Ciarleglio, educa- tion consultants who oversee the program. e goal is to build one at each of the state's technical high school. e Prince E-house will be a two-story structure, featuring commercial space on the first level and residential on the second, Mencio said. "As new technology develops, we try to include that in our designs," added Ciarleg- lio, noting that technology installed in the first three E-houses is already being replaced because it's outdated. Mencio said one of the most exciting things for students is being able to see the end result. "e neat thing about all these systems is they're all linked through the computer, and they can watch each day exactly what they're producing for electricity, whether they're in Torrington or Groton or Danbury or Bridge- port," Mencio said. He said any excess elec- tricity or hot water not used for the E-house is pumped back into the school. Machine shop is going high tech as well. Last fall, Bullard-Havens in Bridgeport installed nearly $1 million worth of state- funded equipment for its new precision machining program — including three CNC machines and various manual lathes and milling machines. e equipment was part of a five-year, $10 million state plan to upgrade machining equipment at technical high schools statewide. Bullard-Havens Principal Richard Caval- laro said the school launched the program in response to the growing workforce demands of Bridgeport-area manufacturers. He said the workers currently skilled in those jobs are nearing retirement age. "When they're eligible to leave, if we don't have a supply to meet that demand, we as a manufacturing state will be in trouble," he said. e program is currently at maxi- mum capacity with 15 students, but will likely expand, he said. Torres said the high school worked closely with the New Haven Manufacturers' Association to tailor the program to the needs of area businesses. e school also is partner- ing with Housatonic Community College to share space, equipment and instructors and is exploring allowing high schoolers in the program to earn college credit. While students can — and many do — go on to college, she said graduates with manufac- turing credentials can make a good living wage — $30,000 to $40,000 or more, depending on their career path — right out of high school. "Career and technical education is a viable option for a lot of students," Torres said. "We don't dismiss the strength and value of addition- al education and we encourage that through our partnerships... But I think that parents and stu- dents need to look at education very differently now in this challenging and different economy. ey really need to see career pathways as an educational option." ❑ ' … It's exciting for us to be able to partner with business and industry to respond to their needs. ' — nivea torreS, SUperintendent, ct technicaL high SchooL SyStem PHOTO/CTHSS Nivea Torres, superintendent for the Connecticut Technical High School System. 600 Carpentry Electrical HVAC Plumbing & Heating 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 500 400 300 200 100 0 CTHSS students trained in green technologies Source: CTHSS Annual Report 2015