New CTE pathways will be offered at Meadowdale next school year
Dayton Public Schools students will have the opportunity to join new Career Tech Pathways next school year. The new programs — Landscape Design and Programming & Game Design — will be offered at Meadowdale High School-Career Technical Center. Students who join these pathways will have career opportunities not currently available through other CTE programs.
The two programs continue the district’s efforts to ensure students graduate college and career ready. According to Ohio Means Jobs, there are 5,900 current openings in Landscaping and Groundskeeping and about 3,000 openings for Software Development.
The Dayton Board of Education and Administration continue to develop programs and pathways to support students and their futures. By working with business and industry leaders, workforce needs are identified and additional programming is added.
The new pathways will set students up for in-demand careers and also allow them to further their studies in college in order to progress in their chosen field. In addition, the skills acquired in each pathway will translate to a multitude of career fields, opening up even more opportunities for students.
Landscape Design
The Landscape Design Program will help students prepare for careers as landscapers, property maintenance technicians, retail garden managers, turf maintenance technicians, landscape architects, golf course superintendents and parks and recreation managers, among other things.
The curriculum will include plant and horticulture science, landscape design, turf science, greenhouse nursery management and more. Students will have the opportunity to earn the Ohio Certified Nursery Technician Landscape and Ohio Certified Nursery Technician Garden Center credentials.
“This program will be the first agriculture-related program for DPS,” said Dr. Michelle Rammel, Director of Career Tech for DPS. “It is important to provide this opportunity for students because there is now a big push for urban agriculture.”
Urban agriculture is the process of cultivating, processing and distributing food in cities. Doing so helps create jobs and improves access to food, among other things.
Programming & Game Design
The Programming & Game Design Program will prepare students for careers as computer programmers, software developers, game designers and database designers. The curriculum will consist of classes in IT, programming, game design, object-oriented programming and database administration. Students will also have the opportunity to earn certifications in IT Fundamentals.
“This pathway is the first programming pathway for DPS,” said Rammel. “Although we have a Cybersecurity Program, this new program will address new areas within the Information Technology field.”
Rammel said because most career fields rely on computer programmers to create software to help businesses run more efficiently, students in this program will find career opportunities in a variety of fields.
DPS students interested in applying for either of these pathways can do so online by visiting DaytonPublic.com. Applications will be accepted through Friday, April 2nd. For more information about the dozens of CTE programs at DPS, visit the “Career and Technical Opportunities” page on the website.