Here’s a shout-out to two individuals who are doing their best to provide our industry with a well-trained workforce in very different ways, Leland Wilbert and Jeff Purcella.
Leland Wilbert has been a teacher (Non-Core Teacher-CTE-Industrial Ed) at Pine Ridge High in Deltona, FL for over 4 years. He is also the HVAC Academy Director for the Volusia County School District. The HVAC Technology program’s purpose is “to prepare students for employment or advanced training in the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration industry.” The Academy currently has 144 students (467 over the last 4 years) who have earned an ESCO Institute employment-ready certification in either AC, Electrical or Heat Pump. “We are currently full every class period and the students truly show respect and want to be here,” Leland stated. How exciting is that?
Here’s what really strikes me about Leland. In his words “with the amazing help from many we were able to start our first HVAC internship program last year.” Two juniors and four seniors are participating in the internship. The juniors do inspections at Pine Ridge and fix what’s needed in the classrooms. Starting last June, the four seniors, with Leland’s supervision, worked on Volusia County School buildings, continuing during the school year doing PMs, service and installs after school.
You won’t hear this from Leland, but he was named 2025 Teacher of the Year and was also honored with a Superintendent’s Challenge Coin!
On March 26 Volusia County Schools are holding a county-wide Work Force Expo at the Pine Ridge High School gym, 926 Howland Boulevard, Deltona FL. Leland will be showcasing the Academy and wants everyone to turn out. Hours are from 9:30 to noon but he’s asking not to show up before 8:45 to allow morning traffic to clear.
Reach Leland by emailing lewilber@volusia.k12.fl.us.
Jeff Purcella had over 30 years of HVAC/plumbing business ownership experience and 3 years of HVAC technical college teaching before starting the American Vocational Academy (AVA) in Nokomis, FL five years ago. The Academy is an accelerated, 3-month, 4 hours a day, 4 days a week journey in developing a quality, skilled HVAC or plumbing workforce, ready to move forward with an understanding of how systems work, some basic hands-on experience and the soft skills to help communicate effectively with co-workers and customers.
AVA offers several unique programs to students as they reach milestones in their training. With Tech to Tech Ride Along, students are eligible to team up with an affiliated contractor to ride along with a seasoned technician. The OJT Employer Assist program is designed for AVA students to actively participate in the workplace while still earning classroom credits required to graduate. For newcomers, the Academy offers “Shadow Day”, a hands-on experience allowing them to see what the classes offer.
“Our Contractors Connection encourages contractors to form in-classroom relationships with future technicians enrolled in our HVAC and plumbing assistant programs and play a meaningful role in students’ training and development,” Jeff stated.
For more information on the American Vocational Academy call 941.281.2541 or email AVA.YourFuture@Gmail.com.
Warm regards,
Peter Montana, Director, ACprosite.com
pmontana@ACprosite.com
813.417.6792
