Carbon Career & Technical Institute is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and Monday saw the school showcasing its noteworthy past and vibrant future with an open house.

"We're really happy with the turnout tonight. We really appreciate everybody coming out," Administrative Director David Reinbold said.Starting in the cafeteria, attendees could peruse displays of memorabilia from each decade that the school has been open, dating back to its roots as Carbon County Area Vocational Technical School in 1966."I've brought several kids to this school, just to have a future. Coming out of high school, a lot of people are lost, but if they have a trade, they can always fall back on it," said cosmetology alumni Jodie Long, a hair stylist at Styling Zone in Lehighton. "I still love what I do, and it's been since 1979 when I started here."Students in the marketing program also had displays that featured the history of several different companies, including McDonald's, Hershey and more."We thought it would be a cool project to do Kool-Aid, because not many people think about Kool-Aid that much," student Corra Chincola said as she handed out samples of the drink. "Since it's such a good, sweet snack and drink for kids around the world, we thought it would be a cool to do a project for the trade show."The cafeteria also featured a menu of burgers, hot dogs, french fries and more, all available at '60s prices.Students, alumni, instructors and family members continually lined up around the room to pick up a complete meal for under a dollar.Visitors who toured the technical areas got to see live demonstrations, as well as displays of vintage equipment."It's really great to show what we do and how we do it," welding student Owen Everett said as he worked on a metal rose. "We can do other things besides just tack a couple pieces of metal together and weld it."It's great to come out here and show people, especially the kids, and get them in the trade."Cosmetology students even dressed up to highlight each decade of the school's history, including flower children, punk rockers and everything in between."Celebrating your school's 50th is pretty cool. My teacher, she actually went here back in the '70s," Clair Patire said as she styled fellow student Makayla Smale's hair. "It's nice getting hands-on stuff to do. It's a good way to learn, being able to work the salon on Thursdays and Fridays."Departments like Auto Collision and Repair have shown huge advances over the year, but still maintain a hands-on teaching method that prepares students for further education and jobs in the industry."The equipment that we have here is top of the line, state of the art. We utilize what is called the I-CAR curriculum, which is the standard of the industry," instructor Dennis Starry said. "They're going to learn the basics here, sort of entry level, and that's what we're training them to do."Additional exhibits included a car show in the back of the school, as well as a courtyard performance by Distant Thunder, Electrical Distribution and Automation instruction aide Rob Pathroff's band.With a packed cafeteria, and plenty of people perusing each technical area throughout the night, CCTI immersed a diverse crowd in the past, present and future of vocational technical training."All of our tech teachers had some really nice displays showing the history of their particular areas, so that's really showing everybody the history of the school and the progress we've been making," Reinbold said.