Communication is critical to Lebanon County CTC success, new director says

Charles “Chuck” Benton is a big believer in the power of communication.

So much so that he says it is the key to the success of the Lebanon County Career and Technology Center – and on many levels, too.

Benton, who officially became administrative director on Jan. 1, said what’s communicated and how information is disseminated across all aspects of the secondary vocational education school will drive success for students, employers and the school. 

Benton has technically been with the LCCTC since Dec. 16, 2024, during a transition period, working with his predecessor, Andra Groller, who retired around the end of the calendar year.

“I think people don’t realize what great opportunities are here. So we have to communicate. Sometimes we have to tell our story and communicate and just let people know,” Benton said about one area of the LCCTC he plans to improve. “It’s the communication out to the public to know, ‘Hey, this is actually happening here and what our students are actually doing.’”

Communication is also integral to the employer/student/LCCTC connection, according to Benton, who worked for the Dover Area School District in York County for 22 years as a teacher and an administrator before coming to Lebanon County’s LCCTC. 

A common problem for employers across the nation is having access to employees who are job-ready when they are hired, which is an issue Benton plans to address.

“It starts with communication. It goes back to that communication piece. I told the staff on Jan. 2, our doors will be open to give tours to people. Let them come in and see. Let’s sit down and have conversations,” Benton said. “The few business people I’ve already met with, they’ve sat right here, we’ve had conversations. They’ve been given tours to let them see what our students are actually learning. The proof is in the pudding.”

Addressing the workforce shortage

Benton said Lebanon County is not immune to the workforce shortage being felt across the nation. “We’re in a workforce shortage across not only Lebanon County, the state of Pennsylvania, but also nationally,” he said.

Read More: Chamber’s 2025 State of the County focuses on needs of local workforce

It’s another area where communication is critical.

“It’s the (worker) shortage and how we’re going to train people and you start having conversations. So I have a philosophy that it comes down to students, it comes down to parents, it comes down to businesses. You have to be open and willing to communicate with them, and then you bring in all the school districts around and it creates a nice little web, and we’re gonna be the center of that web,” Benton said. “I want this organization to become the web for the whole county and career and technical education and to support all the sending schools and get as many students possible into career and technical education.”

Benton’s first five months at LCCTC

Much like a student in the classroom, Benton’s first five months have been about learning by communicating with key leaders across the Lebanon Valley.

“The first five months have been really fast. I met with every staff person, had a sit down one-on-one with them. And had good conversations to learn about this place,” he said. “I’ve been able to meet with every legislator or representative of the legislator. I’ve met with all three commissioners. I’ve met with the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce executive, and I am now part of the Chamber of Commerce board. I’ve met with the economic corporation.”

Those communicative learning sessions have been far-reaching. 

“I’ve started a lot of conversations with people throughout, even met with the mayor of Lebanon to see how we can support everyone in the county,” he added. “I also met with each superintendent separately individually at their own office to learn as much as I could here.”

LebTown asked Benton what he sees as the LCCTC’s strengths and its weaknesses five months into his tenure.

“So the strengths would definitely be the faculty here. It is a very strong faculty. The reputation precedes them. I knew of Lebanon County and the strong faculty here,” he said. “I’m impressed. I think they’re an untold story and I want to tell their story for them so people can see what they actually do for our kids.”

On the flip side of that coin is enhancing communications at  LCCTC.

“News is running on social media now. If you want people to know, we’re going to really look at revamping how … the channels that we’re using to communicate that out,” he said.

Benton noted several recent achievements that have flown under the radar of most people. For instance, he said the school’s precision machining and culinary programs have received accolades.

“Just in a short time, we’ve had a student place second nationally in the MFG project for precision machining. Sixteen students across the country, two of them are in Pennsylvania and they are the top two people in the country for precision machining. That’s pretty awesome,” he said. “Our culinary ACF certification that we just went through at the beginning of March, 25 years without any corrective action, that’s unheard of. So we offer a lot of good things here and people don’t know because I think it’s just a lack of communication.”

Benton’s career achievements

One of Benton’s career achievements was playing a top role in creating a career and technology center while in Dover School District.

“I had a superintendent believe in a vision that we needed to do more for students. So we went from electives as far as business ed, agricultural ed, family consumer science, tech ed, and went and made 10 CT (career and technology) programs,” Benton said. “And out of that, the superintendent decided to make me director, so I spent 13 years as director.”

Benton said Dover was one of 12 high schools to have eight or more career and technology-based programs in Pennsylvania. 

“We also are probably one of three that sends students to a career and technical center, but we couldn’t get all the kids there at the local career and technical center. And there was a need,” he said. “So we started ours and ended up having 330 kids out of a thousand kids in high school doing career and technical education through elective courses.”

Another was when the high school won a collegiate-level award.

“When I was teaching, we started a geospatial technology (program), and we won the USGIF (United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation) Academic Achievement Award. We’re the only high school to ever win that collegiate award,” he added.

Why Lebanon County?

Benton said he left his career in York County to seek a new challenge.

“Sometimes in an organization you get to where you’ve done all you can and I had a vision that I wanted to do more in career and tech ed,” Benton said. ‘There were actually three director positions open at regional career and technical centers and I felt led to come here.”

On the horizon

Under Benton’s watch and via the leadership of the school’s joint operating committee, the school will address some immediate needs now and for the foreseeable future.

A dual feasibility study currently being conducted will examine infrastructure (PDF) and curriculum needs (PDF) while also hopefully addressing another ongoing issue: how to accommodate a waiting list of nearly 300 students who want to study at the LCCTC but can’t due to space limitations.

“We have to get out of the models – from the 1970s education models – and be willing to look and explore new models on how our delivery method is to make sure that we service all the students that are looking for a career in tech ed,” Benton said. “And that may look different. I have some ideas that I am working with this through with the state that could help with all that.

That’s a process, however, that will take time to ensure it’s done properly.

“So I’m aggressively looking at a different modeling system to enhance that or our situation to help those 300 kids,” added Benton. “So I’m not sure exactly what that’s gonna look like, but there’s some stuff on the table that I’m working through and I just need time.”

A featured speaker recently at the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce’s State of the County program, Benton shared the three priorities of the educational institution.

Those priorities as they were presented are: 

• Expanding industry priorities
• Elevating the reputation of career and technology education
• Program innovation

His call to action under the first priority calls with the business community to create partnership with the tech school while also helping students gain real-world experience. One way the second priority will be met is by creating strategic paths to success that by eliminating career and technical education as a second choice. 

The third priority will be accomplished by aligning educational programs with labor market needs, exploring growth in high-demand and growing fields, and focusing on entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary projects and emerging technologies, according to Benton. 

Will the Adult LPN program return?

Concerning the closing last year of an adult education program for licensed practical nursing, Benton said there’s always a possibility it may come back some day.

“Well, we’ll take a look at all the constituents or who we deal with, and we’ll talk about it. I listen to everything. If you check my background, I’m not a status quo person. It’s (about) whatever needs done for students and learners,” he said. “If it’s good and it creates a positive thing and it helps them to grow and create opportunities for the student learners, and if it’s within our means, budgetary-wise, let’s take a look at it.”