Orleans school
is on the move

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

In years past, government funding and foundation grants paid for the operations of Orleans Technical Institute.
A program of JEVS Human Services, Orleans opened in 1974 on Bustleton Avenue before moving to 1330 Rhawn St. five years later.
A couple of years ago, JEVS decided to look for a bigger, more modern facility. The ultimate price tag would be $21 million, and the agency knew it needed to tap some private sources for at least $5 million of that total.
The response was positive, and by September 2006, work was started on the new Orleans home at 2770 Red Lion Road, just east of Roosevelt Boulevard.
The project was finished on time and on budget, and on Friday morning it was time for JEVS to showcase its newest jewel, an 88,000-square-foot facility on 6.5 acres of formerly vacant ground. It features 29 classrooms, shops, technology labs and an administrative suite.
The building officially opened in July after a one-week down period to move the entire operation.
"This is the gold standard in this field anywhere in the United States," Ben Zuckerman, chairman of the JEVS board of directors, said during the grand-opening celebration.
Liz Keptner, co-anchor on the CBS 3 Eyewitness News morning show, hosted the festivities and read a congratulatory message from Gov. Ed Rendell. Zuckerman joined JEVS president and CEO Jay Spector and benefactors Oscar Lasko and Jeff Orleans in cutting the ceremonial ribbon.
Guests included state Sen. Tina Tartaglione (D-2nd dist.). They watched a video presentation, set to U2’s Beautiful Day, that chronicled the years at the prior sites and the rapid construction of the new location.
JEVS still owns the Rhawn Street site but is hoping to sell it to a charter school intended to ease overcrowding at Northeast High School.
Orleans Technical Institute is a career school that offers a court-reporting course and five building trades programs: air conditioning, refrigeration and heating; building maintenance; carpentry; plumbing and heating; and residential and commercial electricity.
The school had to move because enrollment has increased 49 percent since 2001.
According to school officials, OTI successfully finds jobs for 92 percent of graduates in building trades and 100 percent of court reporting students.
Orleans, CEO of Orleans Homebuilders, said his family has been longtime financial supporters of the school because it helps so many people.
"Work gives meaning to life," he said.
Spector, the JEVS president, said OTI helps students get jobs that pay family-sustaining wages. Since 2004, more than 700 Philadelphia-area employers have hired an OTI graduate.
"This building is an investment in the economic health of our region," he said.
One of the biggest supporters of OTI is SEPTA. The transit agency’s senior recruiter, Jim Barnshaw, said more than 30 employees have graduated from the school.
SEPTA has been pleased with the mechanics it has hired to work on buses, trolleys and trains.
"It’s a win-win situation for all of us: SEPTA, the school and students," Barnshaw said.
The instructors and students seem happy with their new digs.
Shannon Hill, a Bustleton resident, has completed two years of a 28-month court-reporting course. She started at OTI’s former satellite campus at 1845 Walnut St., but the course is now part of the larger campus.
At the old site, the classrooms were smaller and the computers slower.
"We have very good computers here," she said. "Computers are very valuable to what we do."
In the plumbing-and-heating room, instructor Marvin Hunt said the added space allows him to teach in a setting that simulates a real house and fixtures. That kind of instruction, he said, ultimately makes the students more employable.
Student LaFenus Johnson is in the fifth month of a six-month course. He started on Rhawn Street but didn’t mind the transition.
"We have a lot more work space in here," he said.
Carpentry instructor Bill Leonard has been a carpenter for 58 years. Besides benefiting from his wisdom in the classroom, Leonard’s students are able to build bigger model homes.
"It’s so much better," the teacher said of the new facility. "It’s a lot bigger and easier to keep cleaned. It’s air-conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. And we have a lot of new equipment." ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com