MTC Alumni Association |
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Featured Alumni
“There are so many wonderful MTC graduates in our community with whom we want to keep connected,” declares Dr. Mary Cantrell, Director of Manatee Technical College, as she proudly announced the formation of the Manatee Technical College Alumni Association (MTC AA). This Alumni Association is all about pride in being affiliated with MTC, eight-times Skills USA Champions as well as the pride graduates feel about how their MTC training is benefiting themselves, their families and their community. Let us introduce you to just one of these outstanding alumni.
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CULINARY
(JAMIE GREGORICH & DANA JOHNSON) Get behind the scenes scuttlebutt on Chef Jamie’s experience as a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen and the lowdown on Chef Dana’s newly-created Baking and Pastry Culinary program. |
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TORRES FAMILY
Meet Mother Hilda; Father Ramon, Sr; Daughter Elizabeth and Son Ramon, Jr. all MTC graduates. |
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FIREFIGHTER & EMT
Follow Manatee County Firefighter and Fire Rescue Team Member Steve Ryckman and his colleagues through a typical day on the job. |
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KEVIN MCGRATH
Kevin was a youth who had no interest in applying himself in school or the workplace when he was enrolled in the high school component of MTC in the drafting program. When facing his third expulsion from class, two of his instructors showed some “tough love”, took control of his future and held him responsible for his actions. This resulted in Kevin becoming a SkillsUSA National Champion as well as serving as Florida SkillsUSA state president. He graduated from high school and found a drafting job, but soon discovered sitting at a desk was not for him. Instead of dropping out as he might have in the past, Kevin decided he needed to further his education, but realized that in order to have the money for tuition he would need to join the military. During his time in the Air Force he felt he found his calling and he attained a degree in aeronautical engineering. With his stint in the military completed, Kevin returned to his roots at MTC to become certified as an Emergency Medical Technician and later trained as a fire fighter. |
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By this time Kevin was married and had started a family, so when the Air Force re-contacted him with an offer to be based with Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa he jumped at the opportunity. As a career Technical Sergeant, Kevin is responsible for a KC 135 aircraft and travels with it wherever it deploys around the globe. His training in drafting from MTC has provided the foundation for understanding schematics and complicated aeronautical systems and his EMT credentials enabled him to be entrusted with Self-Aid Buddy Care training for new recruits.
One of Kevin’s goals before he is redeployed in April 2011 was to encourage other MTC graduates to re-engage with, and provide resources for, Manatee Technical College so that others like themselves have the opportunity “to get their acts together to become productive and provide for their families.” Kevin unabashedly proclaims that had it not been for MTC and those two instructors who cared, “I don’t know where I would have ended up and may not have been around at all.”
One of Kevin’s goals before he is redeployed in April 2011 was to encourage other MTC graduates to re-engage with, and provide resources for, Manatee Technical College so that others like themselves have the opportunity “to get their acts together to become productive and provide for their families.” Kevin unabashedly proclaims that had it not been for MTC and those two instructors who cared, “I don’t know where I would have ended up and may not have been around at all.”