Students who will be juniors next year are invited next month to enroll in Concord Regional Technical Center programs offered here on the Concord High School campus.
Two-year programs include Automotive Technology, Construction Technology, Cosmetology, Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts with Baking, Fire Science/EMT, Graphic Arts & Digital Communication, Health Science & Technology, Information Technology and Stagecraft (Technical Theater).
Assemblies were held earlier this month to provide information to sophomores from CHS and sending schools, including Bow, Hopkinton, John Stark, Pembroke, Pittsfield, Hillsboro-Deering, Merrimack Valley and Kearsage.
An open house for parents  will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, in the CHS auditorium.
Students can access a CRTC application online.
Stagecraft is the newest program offered by the CRTC following the addition of Fire Science/EMT two years earlier.
The Stagecraft program, directed by longtime Concord School District teacher and theater director Clint Klose, has so far been a success. Paula Smykyl, a CRTC office secretary, described it as “a one of a kind program” and said she thinks it’s “going to explode” in popularity.
According to Klose, Stagecraft is split between theory and practice, meaning students spend part of class learning and the other half applying what they’ve learned by working on different projects.
“We wanted to make sure there is a balance,” said Klose. Students are required to participate in different events outside of class, and there is no shortage of those at Concord High.
Like students in other CRTC programs, Stagecraft enrollees participate in occasional SPUR conferences, which are chances for students and teachers to confer before grades close. They discuss how they believe each student is doing in class. The student has a chance to express how he or she thinks she has performed that quarter.
Sixteen kids are currently enrolled in Stagecraft, which is just expected to grow. “Students love it,” said Smykyl.
Klose reported that many younger students have expressed interest in taking the class once they approach junior year.
Stagecraft may receive a new name, as some involved with the program fear that the name “Stagecraft” is unclear and does not say enough about what the class entails. Names that express more about the staging and lighting are in consideration, but nothing has been decided.
According to the program description online, Stagecraft students do the following:

• “Develop the understanding and skills to fully engage in the four major aspects of Stagecraft: lighting, sound, scenic and props/costumes.
• Leverage your artistic skills to design technical shows to enthrall audiences.
• Gain the hands-on electrical, computer, painting, carpentry trade skills to be able to facilitate a production.
• Operate sound and light boards, projectors, spotlights, microphones, stage lighting, rigging, and other professional tools related to stagecraft.
• Train to be a theater technician and artist.
• Render complex technical production elements, including light and sound, using CAD.
• Practice stagecraft skills in many setting including in local auditoriums and theaters.”

Students interested in signing up for any of the CRTC programs should discuss plans with their guidance counselors before applying for admission.