SkillCETT:

Interdisciplinary technical skills

training program for NYC Youth

SkillCETT (Skills in Craft Education & Technical Training) is a 150+ hour out-of-school program that provides foundational technical training for youth in three separate materials: Wood, Textiles, and Digital Fabrication.

The developmennt of this program was inspired by our partnership with Work, Learn, Grow (WLG) & Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), both programs from around the New York City area that focus on enriching youth.

This program is one step in a young person's journey through Beam that enables individualized skill retention through rigorous exploration of raw materials, trades, equipment use and production processes.

Once a young person has successfully completed all their 150+ hours, they are eligible to participate in our Apprenticeship program going from student to teacher of other youth within Beam Center.

Explore the ways we enrich our youth:

Within the three separate material cohorts for the SkillCETT, each curriculum is designed with the same guiding set of learning objectives in mind: precision, practice, and patience 

This iterative structure reinforces our core beliefs that teaching technical skills to young people are complex and transferable within and outside of Beam Center.

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Textiles

This cohort works with fabrics, fibers, and pigments to accomplish the following objectives:

  • Practical training in hand sewing, machine sewing, and serging

  • Understanding of different fabric types, applications, and compositions

  • Natural fabric and fiber dyeing techniques

  • Garment-making and pattern reading responsive to personal measurements

  • Practical training in plain weaving on rigid heddle loom

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Digital Fabrication

This cohort builds a wide knowledge of digital fabrication techniques and technology through:

  • Safely and effectively using Laser Cutters, 3D Printers and Vinyl Cutters

  • Competency in Adobe Illustrator, OnShape and other drawing/rendering softwares 

  • Teaching principles of digital design (color, composition, typography, etc.) 

  • Blending digital fabrication processes with printmaking, casting, circuitry, clay modeling, and bookbinding

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Woodworking

This cohort accumulates many cornerstone skills tied to carpentry, fine woodworking, and framing through:

  • Safely operating a range of power tools for cutting, fastening, planing, and shaping wood

  • Learning precision measurement and mark-making through project layout 

  • How to maximize material and where to source different types of lumber 

  • Balanced practice with hand tools and “slower”woodworking processes that enable a greater understanding of variations in lumber density, hardness and joinery

  • OSHA-10 site safety certification which greatly emphasizes the use of Personal Protective Equipment 

  • Shaping of personal style and design instincts in projects supported by contextual knowledge of woodworking precedent in furniture and decorative applications

Youth Takeaways

After completing SkillCETT, and in preparation for Apprenticeship, we have seen that our youth can demonstrate:

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High levels of competency in technical skills in addition to the ability to verbally explain their process and knowledge

The ability to teach components of their practice to others

Material literacy and crucial safety practices related to their craft

A measurable increase in their overall ability, attention, and stamina to commit to creating a complex project that requires, at minimum, multiple days to complete

Learn about  SkillCETT

**Limited placements available for NYC students aged 16+ who do not attend one of our affiliated listed schools.**

Not at one of our affiliated schools, but interested in starting your journey with Beam Center? Fill out our participation interest form.