Stafford Technical Center is a school where students can go to learn various trades while still getting their credits to graduate from high school. While some of these students stay until their graduation, many come back for different reasons.

The students that returned this year are Jaziah Ritchie, Brennen Mckeighan, Brighton Mckeighan, and Shelby Moody. While Brighton and Brennen were there for Auto Body and Detailing, Jaziah went for Culinary Arts, and Shelby for Health Careers.

In Stafford, plenty of real world skills can be learned. Brighton and Brennen learned how to do welding, body work, and painting. “There was a wide range of things, anything from welding to dent removal to filler work and painting,” says Brennen. 

“I learned a solid(bit), I learned how to bake and cook, how to do soups and stocks,” Jaziah explains. 

Shelby says she learned, “How to be a responsible nurse, and how to take care of people.” 

Other than the special class they may go to take, the day at Stafford isn’t much different from other schools. They still have other classes like math, English, or a science class that they may have to take if they need the credit.

Students express that Stafford seems to be an enjoyable experience with the only real reason people left was due to wanting to do things like Co-op, where you leave school early to be able to work. Others state that they weren't able to get in due to their classes being full. The exception being Jaziah who says he left because of “a lot of drama.”

There were still some complaints about Stafford. “My least favorite part? The chefs,” Jaziah says. “It’d probably have to be the fact that Stafford kids weren’t allowed at the Rutland vending machine,” says Brennen. 

The other two, however, were happy with their experience. “There really wasn't any least favorite parts for me, I enjoyed learning different things,” says Shelby. Brighton concurs.

While these students returned from Stafford, Proctor still has ten more that took their place in going this year.