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Cranking Up Career Skills at the Innovation Center

Cranking Up Career Skills at the Innovation Center
A group of young men in yellow shirts stand around a large engine in a workshop with industrial equipment in the background.
  • 2026
  • September

WCS Advanced Power and Machinery students are getting hands-on lessons about the world of diesel.

Instructor Dan Poradek teaches the diesel generation class at the Innovation Center. Students in the morning class learn about diesel engines, and students in the afternoon class learn about generators.

"I've really always liked diesel stuff ever since I was a kid," said Summit High student Steven. "This is just such a great opportunity for us. All of us are learning so much about what we want to work on in our lives. We're learning how everything works, how to tear stuff down and build it back up."

  • Innovation Center
In the foreground, a young man in a yellow shirt and a camouflage hat works on a piece of machinery with a wrench, while in the background, other young men in similar shirts watch and stand in a workshop.
A young man in a yellow t-shirt and a camouflage hat crouches to examine a large yellow engine in the foreground, with a blurred beige wall in the background.
Two young men in yellow t-shirts hold a large, dark, crystalline rock in front of a blurred background of an indoor event space with yellow stairs.
Three young men in yellow t-shirts examine a greasy engine in a workshop.
A young man in a yellow shirt and baseball cap grins while holding a greasy engine part, with other young men in similar shirts looking on in the background.
A group of young men in yellow shirts gather around a large engine in the foreground, with a blue wall and gymnasium bleachers visible in the background.
Two young men in yellow shirts work on engine parts spread across a table in the foreground, with a large blue toolbox and other equipment visible in the background.
A smiling young man in a yellow t-shirt and jeans holds a large metal engine component in the foreground, with a workshop-like background featuring cardboard boxes and industrial equipment.
A group of young men in yellow shirts stand around a large engine in a workshop with industrial equipment in the background.
A mechanic instructs students in yellow shirts on a large yellow engine in the foreground, with more students and equipment visible in the bright, open workshop background.