More Than 250 High School Students Visit JALC for Applied Tech Tour Day as the College Prepares to Open New State-Of-The-Art Facility
Published on November 10, 2026
More than 250 high school students visited John A. Logan College for its Applied Tech Tour Day, getting a firsthand look at career and technical education opportunities while navigating a campus undergoing significant construction and expansion.
Although construction has brought temporary changes to campus locations, the students in attendance had a chance to see the future of the college’s automotive services, auto body, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), and welding programs—facilities many will be among the first to use.
The college is investing in a major construction project funded in part by a $4.2 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The project is designed to modernize and expand its career and technical education (CTE) programs, providing students with updated training spaces and equipment that reflect the environments they will encounter in the workforce.
“The new CTE building that these students will have the opportunity to learn and train in is not only state-of-the-art, but it will mirror the shops and dealerships that they will be working in, and as a result, they will be able to be ready to start their career on day one,” said Jason Stutes, department chair and HVAC instructor.
During the event, visiting students met with college instructors and current students, explored program offerings, and learned more about the hands-on training available at JALC. Students also had the opportunity to meet with faculty and students in computer networking and cybersecurity, agriculture, construction management, biomedical electronics technology, digital media technology, CNC machining, and electronics technology.
The Applied Tech Tour Day gave prospective students a chance to see how classroom instruction and hands-on experience come together to prepare graduates for careers in skilled trades and technical fields.
As construction continues across campus, the expanded facilities are expected to provide future generations of students with modern learning environments and industry-relevant training.
For the more than 250 students who attended, the event offered a glimpse of what their future education and career opportunities could look like at John A. Logan College.