Paper Mache
I have been involved in some meetings recently with local educators about CTE or career technical education.
Turns out a federal CTE Improvement Act was passed in 2006 requiring local educational agencies receiving funds under the act to be working toward the development, implementation, and evaluation of CTE programs. There are also state requirements around school districts providing CTE, working in collaboration with potential employers and the Employment Development Department.
So why all this about CTE? Traditionally, CTE relates to students who may not want to continue with academic studies at two-year or four-year colleges. These are students who want to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation from high school.
Many of our high schools offer remarkable welding programs, for example, offering various certification levels so that students can immediately enter a career and begin earning an excellent income. At nearby Yuba College, further training and certifications are available in welding, auto mechanics and other trades.
I took wood shop, metal shop, photography, and theater classes in high school. I have earned income as a result of all of this early CTE or “CAE” (Career Arts Education) and am thankful for all of it which brings me to my point.
Just as with some of the trades, early arts education can also prepare students for earning opportunities after school. We have recently hired high school students to photograph some of our events. We have visual art students currently creating art to memorialize the Japanese American World War II internment camp experience on “cachets” or commemorative envelopes.
My main interest was photography and I started earning income early on by photographing weddings, bar mitzvahs and actors’ headshots. So, let’s expand the conversation to include the arts as career paths that can be pursued during and immediately following high school.
Another case in point are the musicians in the Broken Compass bluegrass band performing this Saturday at the Sutter Theater Center for the Arts. They are high school and college students earning money doing what they love to do. Tickets are available at yubasutterarts.org.