About Us!

During the 2023-2024 school year, various programs were inspired by the Ocean County Vocational Technical School’s mission statement; to provide an intensive and immersive educational experience aligned with the current and emerging demands of business, industry, and advanced education. We instill the knowledge, skills, and competencies required for students to experience success in entering the workforce, advancing along a career pathway, and achieving career aspirations.

The instructors of the Computer Science (CS) and Retail Store Operations and Marketing (RSO) programs at the Toms River Center (TRC) began a collaborative project to build a website for the store run by the Retail Store students. Surf’s Up operates four days a week for about eight months of the school year providing RSO students with valuable work experience. Their customers are the students and staff in all the other programs at the TRC who have an opportunity to shop each week. Students look forward to the delicious snacks they are able to purchase and the shopping opportunities for various items.

The website project grew out of a conversation between teachers while the CS students were shopping at Surf’s Up one day. During this conversation the CS and RSO teachers realized there was an opportunity to enhance the work experience of the students in both classes. As part of their coursework, the RSO students had been discussing a store website and what it might look like. The CS class had students who learned web development last year and were eager to keep up their skills.

For the CS students this experience provided their first opportunity to consult with a client and to collaborate virtually with other developers. Each of the two CS classes had their own group of students working on building a website for Surf’s Up. They created an initial framework. CS then met with the RSO students to hear what they wanted to see on their website. The CS students incorporated the feedback from their clients into the website design.

The collaboration was going so well that when it was time to add photographs to the website, the two TRC teachers decided to expand the collaboration and reached out to the Design and Visual Communications (DVC) program instructors at the OCVTS Brick Center. Photography students from the DVC program spent a day at Surf’s Up taking most of the photos and videos you see on the pages of this website. They spent untold hours editing photos and creating an exceptional video to enhance the overall project.

Now, due to the hard work and collaborative efforts of various OCVTS programs, we are proud to share the Surf’s Up website with you!