Adults interested in enrolling for short-term, evening classes can enroll on-line at this site (link), by phone: (405) 273-7493, extension 215; by mail: GCTC Adult Training and Development, One John C. Bruton Blvd., Shawnee, OK, 74804; or by fax: (405) 273-6354. Information about short-term classes is available on this website.

Information about full-time, daytime programs is available on this website at (link). Full-time, daytime programs are available for district high school students and adults. To ensure proper placement, all applicants participate in assessment. Call (405) 273-7493, extension 264 to discuss your educational goals, class availability, availability of financial aid, and make an assessment appointment.

An application for enrollment should be filled out after assessment has been completed. The GCTC Career Assessment Center personnel advise student applicants of their test scores and career choices during the week following the assessment process.

All applicants for full-time, daytime programs are interviewed by a Gordon Cooper Technology Center counselor to determine appropriate placement. Not everyone who applies for enrollment is accepted. Applicants will be notified by mail.

Contact your high school counselor for an application. Return the application to your counselor for his/her signature and the requested documents from the high school (transcript, testing, etc.) Each applicant must also complete an interview with a GCTC counselor. Your high school counselor may know when the GCTC counselor will be on your campus for interviews. However, you can schedule an interview at the GCTC campus by calling (405) 273-7493, ext. 478. Do I need a GED to enroll?

A GED is not required to enroll, however you do have to sign up to take the Assessment Test which is required of all adults enrolling at GCTC. You will need to call GCTC at 405.273.7493 x264.

Financial aid is available for eligible students. Gordon Cooper Technology Center is approved to offer the following federal Title IV financial aid to those who qualify: Federal Pell Grant, Oklahoma Tuition Aid Grant (OTAG) and Federal Work Study (work on campus for minimum wage). Students who are enrolled as full-time or half-time students in full-time, daytime programs that are at least 1,050 clock hours in length, may apply for Title IV aid.

You may obtain a (FAFSA) Free Application for Federal Student Aid form from the GCTC Student Service office or financial aid office. FAFSA forms may be filled out online at FAFSA.ED.GOV.

Some students may be eligible for assistance for both short-term classes or full-time classes through Native American tribes, veterans educational benefits, Workforce Oklahoma, or vocational rehabilitation services.

Questions about financial aid opportunities should be directed to counselor Lynell Armstrong at lynella@gctech.org or by calling (405) 273-7493, extension 212.

At this time, our short-term programs at Gordon Cooper Technology Center are not eligible programs for Title IV federal financial aid (Federal Pell Grant, Oklahoma Tuition Aid Grant, or OTAG, and/or Federal Work Study) and/or Veterans Administration (VA) educational benefits. An eligible student can receive most of these types of aid only for our full-time programs.

Selected short-term courses may be paid for by WIA (Workforce Investment Act) if you qualify. Contact the Workforce Center (Employment Office) in your county. For Shawnee the phone number is 405.275-7800.

Some tribal education programs may pay for short-term training. Contact the education office at your tribe. The Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services may pay for short-term training if you have a qualifying disability. Call the Voc. Rehab. Office at (405) 951-3400 for more information.

Gordon Cooper Technology Center has established cooperative agreements and alliances with area community colleges for most full-time programs.

Agreements are in place with Seminole State College, Rose State College, OSU-Okmulgee, and Coffeyville, Kan. Community College. The Agreements and Alliance allow students in Gordon Cooper programs to earn credit from colleges toward an Associate of Applied Science degree. More information can be obtained from Central Oklahoma Technology Consortium Coordinator Dale Donaho at daled@gctech.org or by calling (405) 273-7493, extension 213.

Gordon Cooper was born March 6, 1927 and died October 4, 2004. Gordon Cooper was an engineer and American astronaut. Gordon Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space effort by the United States. He flew the longest spaceflight of the Mercury project, was the first American to sleep in orbit, and was the last American to launch alone into Earth orbit and conduct an entire solo orbital mission.

Gordon Cooper was born between Shawnee and Tecumseh Oklahoma and graduated from Shawnee High School. He served in the Marine Corps in 1945 and 1946, then received an Army commission after completing three years of coursework at the University of Hawaii. Gordon Cooper went through a selection process with the other 109 pilots and was accepted as one of the first seven American astronauts in the Mercury program.

Gordon Cooper was launched into space on May 15, 1963 aboard the Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7) spacecraft, the last Mercury mission. He orbited the Earth 22 times and logged more time in space than all five previous Mercury astronauts combined – 34 hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds, traveling 546,167 miles (878,971 km) at 17,547 mph (28,239 km/h), pulling a maximum of 7.6 g (74.48 m/s²). Cooper achieved an altitude of 165.9 statute miles (267 km) at apogee. He was the first American astronaut to sleep not only in orbit but on the launch pad during a countdown.

Towards the end of the Faith 7 flight there were mission-threatening technical problems. During the 19th orbit the capsule had a power failure, carbon dioxide levels began rising and the cabin temperature jumped to over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Cooper fell back on his understanding of star patterns, took manual control of the tiny capsule and successfully estimated the correct pitch for re-entry into the atmosphere. Some precision was needed in the calculation since if the capsule came in too deep g-forces would be too large and if its trajectory was too shallow it would absorb too much heat and burn up. Cooper drew lines on the capsule window to help him check his orientation before firing the re-entry rockets. "So I used my wrist watch for time," he later recalled, "my eyeballs out the window for altitude. Then I fired my retrorockets at the right time and landed right by the carrier." Cooper's cool-headed performance and piloting skills led to a basic rethinking of design philosophy for later space missions.

Two years later (August 21, 1965) Cooper flew as command pilot of Gemini 5 on an eight-day, 120-orbit mission with Pete Conrad. The two astronauts established a new space endurance record by traveling a distance of 3,312,993 miles (5,331,745 km) in 190 hours and 56 minutes, showing astronauts could survive in space for the length of time necessary to go from the Earth to the Moon and back. Cooper was the first astronaut to make a second orbital flight and later served as backup command pilot for Gemini 12.

Gordon Cooper was selected as backup commander for Apollo 10 and hoped for an assignment as commander of Apollo 13. However, Alan Shepard was chosen instead (Shepard's crew was later moved onto Apollo 14 and the Apollo 13 command went to Jim Lovell). Having flown 222 hours in space, Cooper retired from NASA and the Air Force on July 31, 1970 as a colonel.