Owen Letourneau has three pretty good reasons why students should opt into his school's cooperative education program:

“I’m learning so much more and the food is so much better and I don’t have to ask to go to the bathroom,” said the Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical School student.

Karl Edminster, owner of the Mattapoisett-based robotics company Electromechanica, hired Letourneau more than a year ago after meeting him at the high school.

“About five minutes into the conversation, I said I’m going to hire this guy. He was blissfully unaware that he was being interviewed,” said Edminster.

What started as an after school job for Letourneau became his co-op job.

Old Colony sets up most co-op jobs, but is always eager to have more opportunities for students to get training not available in the classroom.

“It allows students to get real world experience in their technical area and get paid for it,” said Jackie Machamer, assistant principal and vocational technical education coordinator.

Being out of the classroom and in a working environment is also a maturing process for students, she said.

“[It] allows them to really develop those soft skills ­– getting to work on time, being able to work with others, all of those things we try to teach them,”  said Machamer.

The company, she said, “recognizes it is a learning opportunity, but we’re not asking them to babysit. The kids need to go there and be productive. They are treated as an employee.”

The school sets up a contract with employers, and students alternate between academics and co-op on two-week rotations.

Machine and tool technology students work in machine shops in local towns, cosmetology students get hands-on experience giving manicures at senior centers and at least one graphic design student works at the Acushnet-based golfing company Titleist each year.

Students also work for the municipalities that send kids to the school, including Mattapoisett and Rochester.

For health career students who get their Certified Nursing Assistant licenses, going on the job is an eye opening experience.

“I realized it’s a stepping stone,” Rochester resident Brooke Myers said of her experience as a nursing assistant. “I think it’s much better that I was a CNA before I move on to anything bigger.”

Senior Kyle Soares’ co-op job is for Symmetry Medical in New Bedford where he has worked on metal screws used for hip surgeries.

“It’s actually helped me out a lot with knowing what I want to do in the future,” said Soares, a resident of Acushnet. “I definitely push everyone to go out on [co-op.]”

Machamer said that vocational school graduates have a lot going for them, and a larger scope of opportunities than people might think

“We’re really working hard here at Old Colony to make sure that when students graduate that they have options,” said Machamer.

If they want to go directly into the workforce, that’s great, she said, but co-op helps students see what other options are available to them.

“Working with Electromechanica has opened so many doors,” said Letourneau, who hopes to study engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. “There are so many things I never would have seen, never would have heard of, never would have known about.”

Edminster said the co-op program has a reciprocal benefit. “I’m getting very qualified, motivated individuals…and they’re getting the opportunity to apply the skills they’ve learned in class to real world applications,” he said.