More students aim to combine career, academics
Students in Yuma County are seeking more career and technical education programs, and many are also taking Advanced Placement classes simultaneously, school officials say.
“The excitement about CTE is that it’s not limited to a certain type of student,” said Gina Thompson, superintendent of Yuma Union High School District.
STEDY Superintendent Kevin Imes said that CTE education ultimately supports the community.
“Our end goal is for students to receive an industry certification so that they can contribute to the economic development of the community,” he said.
YUHSD reported that its class of 2016 had the highest number of AP/CTE takers than it had seen before, according to the school’s website. That same year, the district had more than 1,000 students (at all grade levels) in both CTE and AP courses.
Career and Technical Education programs are funded through Yuma’s Joint Technical Education District, which is formally the Southwest Technical Education District of Yuma. STEDY offers various CTE programs at seven campuses throughout Yuma County: at Antelope Union, AWC, and the five YUHSD high schools.
For the 2016-2017 school year, STEDY provided about $2.6 million in funds
for programs at Antelope Union, Arizona Western College and YUHSD, according to the member districts reconciliation sheets filed with the state department of education.
Since 2013-2014, the number of CTE programs offered in YUHSD has increased from 22 to 35 programs, according to data provided by the high school district. The number of students enrolled in CTE programs has grown from 4,184 to 6,535.
Both STEDY and YUHSD are growing their CTE offerings in order to accommodate more students.
STEDY is offering three new programs for the upcoming school year: medical assistant, laboratory assistant and computer animation, Imes said.
The medical assistant program, which was approved by the district’s governing board in January, actually did a “pilot” run at Gila Ridge High School this school year. Some of the students made a presentation to the board at its February meeting.
Having students earn their CNA will hopefully boost their chances of entering one of the nursing programs at either Arizona Western College or the Northern Arizona University-Yuma bachelor’s program, Imes said.
YUHSD has several new programs as well, including: home health aide; bioscience; film and TV; cosmetology; music and audio production; business management; mental and social health services; and automotive technologies.
Programs projected to be expanded for 2018-2019, said Eric Patten, community liaison and communications director for the district, include: Nursing; Engineering; Nursing (Certified Nursing Assistant); Medical Assisting Services; Pharmacy Support Services; Law, Public Safety and Security; Business; Sports Medicine & Rehabilitative Services.
STEDY is currently enrolling students, said Jeni Sumner, STEDY’s executive director of program management.
“STEDY enrollment aligns with the high school district enrollments,” she said. “This enables students to know their schedule for the next year before they leave for summer break.”
STEDY holds an orientation during the last week of summer break and students begin classes in August of 2018.
Thompson said that the merging of AP and CTE takes pressure off students, and gives them the freedom to explore what they want to be before they reach adulthood.
“CTE and Advanced Placement, I think, are our two excitements in that the worlds are merging and the teachers are encouraging all students to explore not only college but career …”
Since STEDY and its partner districts are striving for the same goal — to graduate students who are college and career ready — it makes sense for students to co-mingle classical and technical education.
If a student earns a certificate, there are other options that may be pursued besides employment, Imes said. Students have the option of working in their chosen field while they attend classes for a higher degree.
“There definitely is a pathway that they’re in that ... we call it the pipeline,” Imes said. “They’re in the pipeline, and that pipeline has multiple exits. They can get off at the CNA exit. They can get off at ... whatever exit they want to be able to get off at that pipeline.”