Massanutten Technical Center unveiled its new facility Monday.

MTC's Health Care, Criminal Justice and Fire and Rescue programs will hold classes in the new building.

Dakota See, a Criminal Justice student at MTC, knows that to follow his dream and become a state trooper, he needs the best education and training possible.

"Just about everything we do here is hands on," says See. "It's hard to do a criminal justice career without being hands on."

Last year, his classes were in a small mobile unit in the parking lot.

"We just wanted to get out," says See. "Being in that little area, it didn't give us anything that we wanted to do."

Now, not only do See and his classmates have their own area, Health Care students like Lisa Wince do too.

"It's nice and big," says Wince. "We have a lot of room. It's bright. And we can move around and not bump into each other."

She says having their practice beds and computers in the same room allows her teacher to make lessons more interactive.

"She can monitor the whole thing at once and she doesn't have to go from one place to another," says Wince. "She can just watch over all of us at one time."

Both students believe the new facility will allow them to get the most out of their degree from MTC.

"It's exciting because everything in here mostly is new equipment, so it pretty much hasn't been used," says Wince.

"It's giving me the best opportunity possible right now," says See.

The new building is 17,000 square feet, has five classrooms and two labs, which means that teachers can do a lot more hands-on activities with their students.

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