An exciting trend in education in the past several years has been the continued shift from providing the standard 'vocational' classes that your parents may have experienced, to now providing career tech prep classes that are designed to integrate the core curriculum classes into the students program of study. The programs of study are simply the career path courses that the student has selected, for example; Health Sciences, Auto Tech, Human Resources, Education, Information Technology, Arts and Communication, Construction Technology, and many more.
Many of the programs will carry industry certifications that the student can earn during the course of the class which can be applied to their resume' to assist in securing employment after high school. Also many programs offer courses that can articulate as college credits for those students continuing on to higher education studies.
The trend for many medium to large school districts is to provide a magnet center that students from each high school in the district can attend. The magnet center can offer a multitude of programs in one central location, as opposed to providing the more expensive shops such as auto tech/auto body and several locations in the school district.
Planning for the career center can be a daunting task. You should plan on several months of planning activities. We recommend setting up a citizens advisory committee in assisting in the planning. This committee can be made up of the local business community, local colleges, concerned citizens, and all stakeholders such as your current career tech staff and students. The committee can give recommendations for the courses that can benefit your community and students. Surveying your student body as to what their career interests are can also be very beneficial in designing the course offerings. A key to a successful career center will be marketing the program to your community and students, your counseling staff must be on board with the program as they are the ones actively talking to students on a daily basis. We had one district that developed some short videos about the upcoming career center and showed them in the local movie theaters. Not only were students viewing them, but their parents as well. On opening day for the career center, there was standing room only at the dedication; a testament as to well the staff had promoted the center.
Start your planning process early and involve as many groups as you can in the planning process. Once the career center opens, your business community can play a large role in providing internships and support for the students in their various programs of study.
Michael D. King AIA
