Students enrolled in Dutchess BOCES’ Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) program visited the distribution center of GAP Inc. in Fishkill on Feb. 3 to see large-scale technological applications in action. Educational Resources Professional Development Specialist Patricia Rizzo noted that the trip serves as a vital bridge between classroom theory and the fast-paced reality of modern industry.
“This visit supports PTECH's mission to provide work-based learning, established through strategic partnerships between the school and local business leaders,” Rizzo said. “These field trips are essential because they allow students to observe professional environments, interact with industry experts and see themselves in high-demand roles.”
GAP’s Senior Maintenance Manager Eamonn Egan and Learning Development Associate Manager David Perez led the students around and explained how all areas are connected across its 2 million-square-foot building, where clothes are sealed, boxed and put onto trucks for retail and online orders.“It’s 180 miles of conveyance … there’s stuff above us that you don’t even see,” Perez explained. “There’s a ton of work here and our maintenance department has to keep this place running.”
Students witnessed autonomous robots picking items off of high towers and placing them on conveyer belts in varied departments, including packing, a vital area where orders are processed and taken out. One disruption can cause a ripple effect across the building, and if machines are down it can cost the company $150,000 an hour.
“This is the heart of the entire establishment,” Perez said. “If this area stops, everything stops, so it’s important that these robots are constantly moving.”Matthew Tiso-Garvey, a level 2 technician, spoke with students about how there is always something needing to be fixed and that there are no specialized areas for technicians – everyone has some experience in various tasks.
“Some warehouses will have segmented things, I’ve seen union shops that will just have carpenters, just plumbers,” Tiso-Garvey said. “We’re kind of jack of all trades here.”
Perez noted that starting pay for mechanics at the GAP is $23 an hour and they can expect to earn more as they learn and get better at the job. He and Tiso-Garvey also touted the company’s maintenance apprenticeship program where participants become nationally certified after four years, allowing them to work for companies nationwide.
“We are investing in you,” Perez said. “It’s a great educational, career development tool you can take anywhere.”
Sophomore Camila Juarez, whose home district is Poughkeepsie, called the visit eye-opening, especially seeing how much technology has expanded. Her favorite part was watching autonomous robots perform tasks. “They sort of, in a sense, had a mind of their own, even though it was just straight up programming,” Juarez said. “It was interesting to see how they interacted with each other, because I saw how some of them would wait until the other moved out of the way before continuing their work.”
What fellow sophomore Dante Suriano most appreciated about the visit was getting to hear directly from GAP employees about their experiences. He credits P-TECH for presenting students with different opportunities. “You’re able to get experience even if you don’t have a job yet and you get to see what it’s like in person,” said Suriano, whose home district is Arlington. “It’s more interesting than just hearing about it.”
