HURON PERTH CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
New CNC Machine at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School in Stratford

The Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board is excited to announce a donation of CNC machinery that was received at St. Michael Catholic SS, Stratford, from the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association (CTMA), the Ontario Council for Technology Education (OCTE) and was also funded in part by the Ontario's Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) through the Skills Development Fund. The new industry-standard CNC industrial milling machine and five desktop training units, which will allow students to gain hands-on experience before using the larger CNC mill, represent a significant investment of approximately $90,000 in the school's manufacturing facilities. These pieces of equipment will provide amazing educational opportunities for students in the manufacturing sector with up-to-date programming software available in-house at St. Michael CSS.

On Wednesday, March 26, St. Michael Catholic Secondary School was pleased to welcome Hon. Matthew Rae, MPP for Perth-Wellington, Dave Lewis, Ontario Council for Technology Education (OCTE), Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma, Dean Tretowsky, Deputy Warden of Perth County and other key community partners for the unveiling of this new equipment. Manufacturing is a key sector in Perth County, and this represents a great investment in our students and the future.

From Left to right: Mary Helen Van Loon, Chair of the Huron-Perth Catholic DSB; Michelle Henning, Vice President of Answer Precision Technologies Inc. and CTMA Rep.; Tonya Sabatos, Rapid Gear; Dave Lewis, Past Chair, Ontario Council for Technology Education (OCTE); Carolyn Bell, Principal, St. Michael CSS; Mark Flanagan, OYAP Lead, Huron-Perth CDSB; Karen Tigani, Director of Education, Huron-Perth CDSB; Dean Tretowsky, Deputy Warden of Perth County; Matthew Rae, MPP, Perth-Wellington; Mayor Martin Ritsma, City of Stratford; and Gaby Parejo, Huron Manufacturers Association.

Prior to securing this funding, CTMA visited the school and was impressed with the technical facilities and the enthusiasm of our Tech Department educators. Tech teachers at St. Michael CSS and Mark Flanagan, the OYAP Project Lead for the Huron-Perth CDSB, will attend several training sessions as we continue our partnership with CTMA and explore future learning opportunities for our technical education students.