Nolan Kahalas

Dulaney High School (DHS) offers many unique course options. One of these available programs is Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC).

‘HVAC’ is a broad term used to describe anything relating to the systems that move air throughout buildings. At DHS’ HVAC program, students learn skills such as power tool use, soldering and working with refrigerants–which will help them in a potential future career in HVAC–as well as skills that can help them in career fields such as engineering.

Through the four-year HVAC program at Dulaney, students can complete the first year of their apprenticeship program, meaning they will make more money in the workplace than the average worker out of high school. Students who look for a job in the HVAC field after completing the program will stand out to employers because of their skills and connections. However, not all students who take the class are working towards a future career in HVAC, according to HVAC teacher and engineering department head Jamie Gaskin.

“If [students are] looking to have a better understanding of the engineering trade that they want to go into–for instance, if they want to be a mechanical engineer–this is a great way to get an understanding of some of the things that you will design…It helps to connect the dots,” says Gaskin.

When starting the program 15 years ago, Gaskin didn’t expect it to take off. 

“I wasn’t sure when I started the program at Dulaney whether or not it was going to be successful. Dulaney has a reputation for being an academic school. But I think that it is actually the…perfect place for the program, because HVAC, in my opinion, is the most academic of all the trades,” says Gaskin.

Now, the program has grown from a class of 6 people at its inception to over 80 people. It is currently the only trade program of its kind in Baltimore County.

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