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The Frederick County Career and Technology Center may have been a vocational school once, but today it is hardly a place for students trying to avoid college.

Ask Brunswick High School sophomore Kenny Floria. An aspiring civil engineer, the 15-year-old was looking for a way to test the fields of engineering and architecture, and get a head start for college. So he came to the Career and Technology Center's open house last week.

The center's architectural graphics program introduces students to AutoCAD software, a major tool for architects, and allows them to cultivate basic skills in architectural planning and design.

"It looks like a great introduction," said Kenny, who plans to enter the class next year. "I think it will help me get into college."

Created in 1976, the Frederick County Career and Technology originally was designed as a vocational school where students prepare for hands-on professions in masonry, automotive technology and carpentry.

But the focus of the center is changing.

"The old theory is that this was a vocational center," said Adam Frank, a television and media instructor, who also coordinates recruitment. "But many of us have college preparatory-type programs. We are not that vocational place anymore."

More students at the center now have college ambitions, and the center also offers more programs and incentives for college-bound students. For example, the center offers a number of high-tech courses designed for future engineers, architects, computer analysts, filmmakers and biomedical scientists. Programs in finance and marketing, Web design and animation, film and broadcasting are also available.

Most of the 24 programs at the center offer internships and practical experience and can be used to beef up a college application, Frank said. The CISCO Networking Academy, a high-tech computer networking training course, offers students an opportunity to earn up to 20 college credits.

The center is attracting more college-bound students than ever before, said Principal Greg Solberg. Two years ago, Solberg's staff started surveying the post-secondary plans of students and discovered that 78.3 percent planned to continue their education after high school. That is in line with the average for the entire school system (about 80 percent), Solberg said.

"In general, kids today have more aspirations for college," he said.

But also, there are more educational opportunities in fields that once used to be limited to hands-on training. For example, students in the center's construction program can go to college to study construction management and students in the culinary program may choose among a variety of culinary colleges, Solberg said. "Twenty or 30 years ago, things like these were simply not available for students."

The center is open for students in grades 10, 11 or 12 at any Frederick County public high school. About 700 students attend half-day blocks at the center and spend the rest of the school day at their home schools.

In many cases students can earn certificates allowing them to enter the professional world immediately after high school, but now even in the center's most traditional hands-on programs, students are choosing to forgo that option.

Katelyn Grissom, a Catoctin High School junior who is in the first year of the center's nursing program, said she believes the program will help her continue her education after high school.

Grissom hopes to earn her certified nursing certificate at the center before she applies for the nursing program at Frederick Community College. This way, she said she can skip some classes and immediately start working on her registered nursing certificate.

"It's a very good class," she said. "Taking this class here saves you money."

Taking a hands-on program at the Career and Technology Center is also a good way to sample a field before going to college, said Bill Thyer, a Linganore High School junior who is in the culinary arts program there.

Thyer said the program helped him discover his love for the culinary arts. He now plans to apply at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., one of the top culinary schools in the country.

"In my class, there is a good amount of class and kitchen work," he said. "I've learned so much here. I've been Chef of the Month. All these things are going to help me in college."

E-mail Margarita Raycheva at mraycheva@gazette.net.