Zach Ihle’s career story began at Central Tech and, if he has his way, it will end here, too. An instructor in the Industrial Automation program, Ihle knows he’s exactly where he’s meant to be.

Like many young people, when Ihle graduated high school, he headed straight to college. Also like many young people, he realized, after a couple of years, that the degree he’s been pursuing wasn’t working out for him. “So, I moved back to Bristow, which is where I’m from,” Ihle says.

He hadn’t attended Central Tech in high school but knew there were classes for adults, too, so he took a tour. “I found the Industrial Automation program. Growing up on a farm, I’d always worked with my dad, working my hands and tools and things like that, and that mechatronics program kind of aligned with my interest.”

The day he completed his course, Ihle got some big news. “A company in Mannford had called my instructor looking for an industrial maintenance technician, which aligned with my program, so I went to work in industry that very next week.”

Ten years passed, and Ihle, happy in a good career, saw a teaching job opening in his field at Central Tech. “I came in and interviewed, and I thought, you know, I’ve been in industry for 10 years, and thought it’s pretty cool to come back and keep a program that kind of taught me my trade, that is, so that’s kind of how I came to work at Central Tech.”

For Ihle, and for thousands of other Central Tech alums, it’s much more than a school. Central Tech is a driving force in the community. “I would say come and tour and see the lives that we’re changing here at Central Tech in every program, not just mine, every program. You can’t go to a hospital without one of the nurses having come through one of our nursing programs here. Or take your vehicle somewhere, and there’s an automotive technician that’s had some training here at Central Tech. We’re truly changing lives.”