Oil and gas curriculum pacing Career/Tech Ed Center

As the “Great Crew Change” approaches in the oil and gas industry, more and more students are taking advantage of the oil and gas curriculum offered by the Eunice Career and Technical Education Center.
“Oil and gas has grown the most (of the technical curriculums),” said Kristine Joubert, facilitator at ECTEC. “The center prepares them for a job as soon as they finish high school. It’s good for those who might not be ready for college or don’t want to go to college. They can get a job as soon as they graduate.”
“It also gives them a chance to expand their minds beyond the classes normally offered in high school.”
The center hosted its annual open house Tuesday evening, and faculty members were on hand as students and parents toured the facility located at 421 S. 10th St. ECTEC first opened to students in the early 1970s, offering courses in welding, automotive, carpentry, culinary and needle trade. In the roughly four decades since the school opened, needle trade has given way to oil and gas and medical courses.
The school currently has five instructors: Danny Soileau, who teaches welding and oil and gas courses; Kevin O’Brien - Journeys to Careers, a career awareness course, and automotive instructor; Kerry Fontenot - Journeys to Careers and carpentry instructor; Lannie Degeyter Journeys to Careers and culinary arts instructor; and Gloria Langley - Journeys to Careers, CNA, First Responders and medical terminology instructor.
There are 273 Eunice High School students taking classes at the center this year, and the majority of them are taking the Journeys to Careers classes. The number of students taking courses increases each year, but technical curriculums are limited by space. The technical classes are also limited to juniors and seniors, but exceptions can be made for younger students to enroll in particular courses.
Instructor Soileau, who was a welding student at the center from 1977-1978, has 17 students in his oil and gas class this year.
“The trades we are teaching now are high-wage. high-demand trades,” he said.
One of the things Soileau teaches in his class is the T2 certification, a course required by Minerals Management, part of the Department of Interior, for those seeking employment drilling and producing oil and gas in Outer Continental shelf waters. The course covers the general guidelines and laws required, recommended and in reference to the design, installation, maintenance and operation of safety devices and safety systems in offshore areas. The class is only open to seniors.
“You have to have your T2 certification to work offshore,” Soileau, who previously worked as an oilfield welding and crane operator, said. “I had 12 students last year, and they all passed the class and got their T2 certification.”
“One of them is working for Island Offshore, and another got a job making $2 more an hour because he already had his T2.”
According to Soileau, prospective, entry level oilfield employees who already have their T2 certification are more attractive job candidates to oil and gas employers.
“It costs $3,000 to put someone through the class,” he said. “A company can hire a guy, send him to the class, and he might get fired or decide he hates working offshore and they are out $3,000.”
“This way, there is no loss.”
While enrolled in his class, students are also taught how to do a job interview, a skill that comes in handy at the end-of-th-year job fair hosted at the center. Until then, Soileau’s students are enjoying learning all they can about the oilfield industry.
“It’s all interesting to them, the concept of getting oil and gas out of the ground and separating it,” Soileau said. “We took a field trip to J. Schneider and Associates in Lafayette, and the students were able to answer all of the tour guides questions.”
Crystal Thibodeaux and her son Lane Thibodeaux, a freshman, were touring the oil and gas classroom during the open house.
“The class (Journeys to Careers) is interesting,” the young man said. “We built model houses and learned about engineering and the engineering jobs available.”
“I like the classes here.”
“I would like to see him in an oilfield career,” his mother added.
Kenzi Ned and his mom Sophia Ned were another of the mother-son duos attending the open house, and the young man also plans to pursue a career in the oil and gas industry.
“I’d like to be a petroleum engineer,” Ned, also a freshman, said. “The classes are good because they teach you how to choose the correct career path after graduation.”
“I am happy they are offering these courses to students,” his mother said. “There are lots of kids who need direction, and they are putting these kids on a career path.”