KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- To culminate the celebration of Career and Technical Education Month, the Kirksville Area Technical Center opened their doors to the public Wednesday evening for their first annual community expo.

Teachers and current students were on hand to show off their classrooms, give demonstrations, and talk about their latest projects.

"I hope to just get as many people in here as possible so they can see the wonderful facility we have, what great teachers we have and our students," said Sheryl Ferguson, the Director of the Kirksville Area Technical Center.

High school students from Kirksville, Milan, Green City, Novinger, Schuyler County, Brashear, and Knox County can opt to take classes at the Kirksville Area Technical Center while still in high school.  By studying there, they can receive up to 30 free college credit hours.

Some of the programs offered include Agriculture Education, Automotive Technology, Business, Construction Trades, and Practical Nursing. One of the students enrolled in the Construction Trades Program said the experience has been life-changing.

"It's changed my life because this is going to take me a lot further," said Dillon Johnson, a construction trades student.  "I personally want to go into architecture and I've got a lot more background into it now that I've gone through this class."

In 2009, with the help of taxpayer support, the center received extensive remodeling and now has a state of the art practical nursing labs. Along with offering high school students classes, the center has free GED and English as a Second Language classes along with Adult Literacy classes.