MIFFLINTOWN - The Mifflin-Juniata Career and Technology Center received a $156,626.33 donation from the estate of a former Mifflin County student, school Director Kevin O'Donnell announced Tuesday during a Joint Operating Committee meeting in Mifflintown.

The donor, the late Charles Page who lived in York County, attended school in Lewistown as a child, O'Donnell said. The MJCTC was one of several entities that Page recognized with donations in his will, he said.

Because Page did not specify a use for the money in his will, O'Donnell asked the committee to consider ways to use the donation.

The committee agreed to deposit the amount in the school's liquid asset fund, where it will draw interest until a use has been decided.

Committee member Kirk Rager said the school should not rush into using the money.

"I think we should be careful," Rager said. "We shouldn't be in a hurry to spend it until we find a good use for it."

O'Donnell added: "It's not every day that this happens. When we do something with the money, we should consider naming something after Page to remember him, because he didn't forget about us over the years."

O'Donnell offered the consideration that the school use the money to begin new programs. He suggested a health care program, noting that the field is high in demand. A heating, ventilation, air conditioning, or HVAC, program also could be successful, he said.

When asked if the school administrators should proceed with exploring the new programs, the committee members said yes.

The school also received an anonymous $3,000 check from a bank in Minneapolis to be used in the cosmetology program, O'Donnell said. O'Donnell, Assistant Director Michael Lewis and the teachers are discussing how the money can be used, he said.

O'Donnell said the school's solicitor Orris Knepp also has been involved in procedures to accept the donations.

Also during the meeting, O'Donnell discussed the schools continued talks with Penn College of Technology about offering dual enrollment credits, O'Donnell said.

"The college agreed to come to the school and meet with the staff," O'Donnell said.

The proposed program would give students college credits for the classes that they are involved with at the MJCTC, O'Donnell said.

To award college credits at the MJCTC, classes must meet Penn College guidelines, O'Donnell said. The school's teachers also would have to be trained according to the college's standards, he said.

During the monthly teacher spotlight at the meeting, police science teacher Bernard Chatman Sr. gave a presentation and slideshow about the program.

A former trooper, supervisor and commander with Pennsylvania State Police, Chatman said he brings a variety of personal experience to his classroom - from criminal investigation to traffic control in areas across the state.

"I knew when I came into this program that it was going to take creativity and ingenuity," Chatman said. "I had to use all my resources."

Some of the things Chatman has brought into the classroom include an Army rock wall, a stryker armored combat vehicle and demonstrations by local fire and emergency service personnel.

Hands-on, real-life activities are part of the daily routine in the police science classroom. Students raise and lower the American flag in front of the school every day; they patrol the halls and school perimeter; and they help with security at the school's main entrance, Lewis said.

In Chatman's classroom, older students help to teach the younger ones, a strategy that benefits both students as they learn and remember lessons, he said.

The police science curriculum is designed to meet state education standards, Chatman said. When students graduate, they receive a portfolio of the experience that they have gained through the MJCTC, he said.

"A student said to me, 'Mr. Chatman, I like your class because I never know what I'm going to learn, but I learn,'" he added.

In other business, negotiations with the teachers union have begun, O'Donnell said.

"I think it was a good meeting," O'Donnell said. "It's early, but it seems to be moving along well."

The MJCTC Joint Operating Committee will meet at 8 p.m. Dec. 8 at the school in Lewistown.