WOODSFIELD — Swiss Hills Career Center offers educational opportunities and hands-on training in a variety of fields to both adults and high school students.

“At Swiss Hills Career Center, our goal is to blend required academic subjects with hands-on skills training to prepare our students for a career immediately upon graduation. We create development spaces that mimic the real world to the greatest extent possible, so students are developing skills in true-to-life environments and situations,” according to information from the school’s website. “We offer a variety of career programs, including automotive repair, computer science, cosmetology, culinary arts, and welding.”

The school also provides students the chance to work with the public in its hair salon, car repair shop and restaurant.

“Students conduct the work under the full guidance of a licensed instructor, and the public benefits by not only receiving reduced prices but by helping our future area service providers develop strong technical and customer service skills,” according to the Swiss Hills site. “Community service is also a hallmark of Swiss Hills. Many of our students invest hundreds of hours in helping the community.”

Adult education programs at Swiss Hills include: chemical process operator, welding/fabrication and other customized training programs.

Career programs for high school students include: agricultural mechanics, automotive technology, business management and administration, construction trades, cosmetology, culinary arts, electronics, medical technologies, networking systems, veterinary science and welding technologies.

The school is located at 46601 Ohio 78, Woodsfield. The school’s director is Matt Unger.

Earlier this month, more than 200 freshmen and sophomore students in the Switzerland of Ohio Local School District visited Swiss Hills Career Center to preview programs as options for their next years in high school. The group visited the Cosmetology, Culinary, Heavy Equipment, Engineering and Manufacturing, Welding, and Health programs, observing and discussing with students to get a feel for what they would learn and if they are interested in the area as a potential career.

Because students were not able to visit the center last year, more than usual flocked this year to check out the options. “It was an exciting two days,” Unger said. “The students were engaged and excited — it’s rewarding to think we are helping them identify a program that will take them on their career path when they graduate from Swiss Hills.”

In some programs, students were able to watch actual demonstrations — for instance, in the Manufacturing discussion, students ran the 3-D printer to demonstrate how to create parts from a computer model.

Unger expects about 60 sophomores and almost 80 juniors to attend Swiss Hills for their course of study next year. This is up compared to a typical year, which is due in part to the delay from COVID and in part because of increased interest in technical programs that provide a strong career option upon graduation.

“We’re excited about all the updates in the curriculum at Swiss Hills Career Center. We’re offering new programs next year to our students in high school and adult programming,” Unger said. “We’re here to serve the community and residents of Monroe County with quality education.”