Carbon Career & Technical Institute in Jim Thorpe was transformed from a high school into a hover craft landing station recently.

Dozens of Penn-Kidder students participating in the Middle School Career Club visited the high school in late May to learn about a career in carpentry.During the two-hour event, the students got the opportunity to build working hover crafts and hula hoops with the help of Jeff Bobish, carpentry instructor at CCTI; and Ben Peruso, a professor at Lehigh Carbon Community College.Rachel Strucko, one of the program's leaders, explained that the Middle School Career Club was started earlier this year by LCCC as a way to help teach middle school students about various careers. Currently, students at Lehighton Middle School, L.B. Morris and Penn-Kidder schools participated in the program. Panther Valley Middle School will be completing the five-week session over the summer.Strucko explained that the club concentrates on high priority occupations in Pennsylvania, such as logistics and transportation; business and finance; diversified manufacturing; and health care.Peruso added that the philosophy behind the program is having the children do hands-on projects outside the classroom while mixing in classroom exercises. This, he said, helps produce a well-rounded student with knowledge about a career he or she would like to pursue.He noted that by making hula hoops, it is teaching the students about math.Bobish, who has been teaching carpentry at CCTI for three-and-a-half years, said the club is a great idea because it helps to teach the students at a young age.In high school, students learn similar skills in carpentry and other career areas. For example, CCTI students are currently in the process of finishing up a house in Jim Thorpe that they are building as a project. These skills are the same ones the middle school students learned through building hover crafts.Funding for the Middle School Career Club was received through the Department of Education and a community based jobs grant, both secured by LCCC.Other classes that participated in this five-week program learned a variety of occupations, from visiting area businesses to making lemonade stands and other projects.