Technology Center of DuPage is celebrating 40 years
Technology Center of DuPage turns 40 this year, but its mission and vision are sharper than ever: helping DuPage-area high school students explore a work interest while equipping them for postsecondary education and a career.
The center is inviting four decades of alumni and the community at large to attend the 40th Anniversary Homecoming edition of its annual TCD Expo from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 4 to see how career and technical education has changed since the center opened as "DAVEA" in 1974.
Dramatic rescues, 3-D printing, game design, a car clinic, culinary demos and free salon services are just a few of the sights and activities scheduled at the TCD building, 301 S. Swift Road in Addison. The event is free.
For planning purposes, Expo organizers ask those interested in attending to sign up online at www.tcdupage.org or to call (630) 691-7572 for more information.
"People sometimes ask: 'Do you have any famous alumni?'" Principal Steve Carr said. "Actually, our alums are the success stories you could meet any day without realizing it."
School officials estimate more than 24,000 students have taken advantage of a TCD career elective in the past four decades.
Among the thousands of alums using their TCD experience and subsequent postsecondary education are area business owners, paramedics, filmmakers, construction managers, manufacturers, chefs, nurses, teachers, engineers and architects. One is part of the creative team behind comedian Conan O'Brien; two have been part of NASCAR crews; one travels internationally directing skate films for YouTube; and two are executive chefs who appeared on and won competitive Food Network shows.
The campus was organized as DAVEA in the early 1970s under a joint agreement among eight high school districts to deliver quality vocational programs through a more cost-effective central location. Today, 14 member high school districts comprise the governing board.
For the most part, students attended DAVEA to receive specific occupational training with the intention of entering the workplace right after high school graduation.
In 1998, the school's name and focus changed as technology radically transformed the workplace into one requiring postsecondary credentials. By the turn of the millennium, Technology Center of DuPage programs had become essentially college level, providing advanced occupational skills and reinforcing academic skills critical for postsecondary success.
Today, TCD programs offer students the opportunity to earn dual credit - both high school credit and transferable college credit at the same time - for a head start on their future.
Ninety percent of TCD's 2014 seniors are enrolled in colleges or universities with another 8 percent in technical school or an industry apprenticeship.
In the past four years, TCD seniors have earned scholarship awards valued in excess of $1.5 million. By comparison, in 1994 only 54 percent of DAVEA seniors entered college or technical school.