Tangible career opportunities
–At RIVEROAK Tech

Surgical Tech students at RIVEROAK performing mock surgery. -Photo: Mary Vickers, Surgical Technology Instructor

By Tami Stevenson

Area high school students, private schools, homeschooled students and adults attended the RIVEROAK Technical College Career Fair last week to explore the tangible opportunities of a career made available to them through the college and the 65 other business and community agencies that set up booths during the event. Among the venders were branches of the military, the fire department and local and state law enforcement.

Hundreds of students visited from the area during RIVEROAK’S Career Fair, held Feb. 15, 2024. -SVT Photo by Tami Stevenson

Nursing students were leading the tours for high school students.
“We did that last year and they did a phenomenal job, so decided to have them do it again this year.” said RIVEROAK Community Relations Specialist TJ Vickers.

Suwannee High students have walked over, Branford High visited, along with Lafayette, Hamilton and Columbia. “We try to stagger the high school groups so they don’t get bottle-necked,” Vickers added.

The list of career opportunities just keeps growing at RIVEROAK and so do the students. According to RIVEROAK Director and Principal Mary Keen, the school has grown about 47% in the last two years. She credits that to fabulous post secondary career programs, teachers, students and staff.

Applied Cyber Security is one of the newer programs being offered at RIVEROAK. Now in its second year, after beginning with only a handful of students, the class is almost full. “This has become a very popular class,” said Instructor Wade Hill.

The ever popular Cosmetology Department was busy during career fair. Paying customer, Goldie Fralick, was standing at the cashier counter paying for her freshly cut hair and make-over. A school teacher herself, Fralick has been coming to RIVEROAK almost since the beginning of the cosmetology program.

Paying customer - Goldie Fralick, right, a school teacher herself, has been coming to RIVEROAK for haircuts, etc., almost since the beginning of the cosmetology program. -SVT Photo

“This is my spa day! I do it all! Facial, scalp treatment, nails, the works!” said Fralick. “This is the only place to go as long as you have time. They’re learning and you have to have patience, but I wouldn’t go anywhere else.”

Cosmetology Instructor Patricia Sullivan said this will be her last year teaching. Janie Maxwell, who is the other instructor, will take over the entire class after this year. Sullivan owned and operated two salons throughout her career that began in 1980, with Hair Designers, then PJ’s Salon in Live Oak. She became an instructor at the college in 2010.

RIVEROAK Cosmetology -SVT Photo

The Suwannee County Sheriff’s Department was there along with the popular Humvee on display for students to sit in the vehicle and climb up in the turret.

“We always have a lot of interest in the Humvee,” said Sheriff Sam St. John.

Suwannee High students Hayden Campbell, in drivers seat, and Mason Warner exploring the Humvee. -SVT Photos by Tami Stevenson

A new drone the sheriff’s department is implementing now is called a Teledyne Flir SIRAS drone. They had it on display during career fair and Investigator J. Williams, a drone specialist, was there to describe its function.

He explained that Governor DeSantis recently implemented a new law that states they can no longer employ drones that are manufactured in China or any other countries of interest.

“So now we have a USA manufactured drone that is equipped with a thermal optic and traditional camera.” They received it just after Hurricane Idalia through a grant from FEMA. It is used for search and rescue missions, missing persons, etc. They first used it to take photos of damage from Idalia.

He demonstrated the infrared, how it picks up heat signatures either during the day or night. If they use the drone at night, they attach a strobe light, according to FAA standards, that must be visible for two miles. Day or night, drones cannot fly over 400 feet into the air, as that is restricted air space.

Inv. J. Williams holding their new drone. -SVT Photo

Last August, RIVEROAK received a $4M appropriation for healthcare expansion. Currently, the plans for expansion are in the engineering stages.

“So we hope that we can break ground in the next 3-4 months if not sooner,” said Principal Keen. The building will be attached to their nursing building and the nursing building will be renovated. “So it will be one large complex, basically.” According to Keen, they hope to be in the new building within a year or less. “But It’s hard to say at this point.”

RIVEROAK also received $965,000 through a workforce capitalization grant, in January of this year, through Governor DeSantis, from the Department of Education. They plan to upgrade their electrical system in their industrial complex with that money to expand the college’s welding technology and electrical programs.

Speaking of welding, two RIVEROAK students that just enrolled in the welding program in January have already received their AWS certification for stick welding and have job offers. Tyler Lewis, formerly of Lake Butler, now from Lake City, just received a job offer in Nebraska. Malachi Robinson also began classes in January and has a job offer from Big Top Manufacturing in Perry as a stick welder. He said he’s taking the job. Lewis says he hasn’t decided whether he will take the Nebraska job offer yet, but the point is, they got the job offers after only a little more than a month of beginning classes.

We spoke with RIVEROAK Welding Instructor Kevin Mercer and he said yes, it is possible, if they want it bad enough and work for it, they can be certified in less than a semester, if they can pass the AWS testing to become credentialed. Average pay for a welder is around $34 per hour.

Welding - L-R: RIVEROAK Instructor Kevin Mercer, Student Malachi Robinson, Student Tylor Lewis, Rig Fab - Andre Butler, Ken Toy, and Rig Fab Owner Aubrey Greene. -SVT Photo

Principal Keen also said this summer, beginning in June, they will be partnering with Operation Next Florida to offer FREE job training in manufacturing. Students will have the opportunity to walk away with a FREE credential either in welding or as a CNC machine operator. Funded by the department of defense, it is a 2-4 week program and open to all state residents age 18 or older. To find out more about this FREE program, contact RIVEROAK Technical College at 386-647-4200.