CTE — A Bridge Between School and Career

Career and Technical Education (CTE) is gaining momentum in Northern California, adding an extra component to standard high school instruction, with the aim of providing solid training for specific occupations. In many cases, students who complete their CTE requirements in high school can step right into a wide variety of career jobs. For other students, the CTE programs give them a leg up for college study in their chosen field.

Shasta County CTE

Northern Summit Academy, a tuition-free, public charter school in Anderson, focuses on helping its almost 200 students create goals for a future career and life after high school graduation. According to the charter for the school, which was formed in 2019, “We want students to enter into post high school pursuits with the confidence that their education, personal wellbeing and contributions as members of a global society are valuable and personally controllable.”

Career and Technical Education provides pathways for careers

Helping them build that confidence, Northern Summit has a CTE program for 6th-12th graders that includes pathways for Forestry, Veterinary Assistance, Entrepreneurship, Business Management, Professional Sales, Nutrition & Dietetic, Education, I.T., Performing Arts, and Food Service & Hospitality. In addition to their general academic requirements, students will have completed 300 hours of CTE instruction by the time they graduate.

“Having this time of career exploration is really important,” says Julia Knight, Northern Summit’s Executive Director and instructor for the Hospitality/Food & Entrepreneurship pathway. “Students in general have a limited personal history with different careers. How else would they know what their options are?”

Glenn County – CTE throughout the school system

Glenn County’s extensive CTE program works in cooperation with all Glenn County school districts and supports the countywide Youth Employment Services (YES) CTE Program. YES is an afterschool program for students 14-21 years old and is focused on getting students ready for a variety of real-world jobs with worksite training, certification and follow-up services.

In Glen County schools, the CTE programs include pathways and training in Computer, Electrical, Education Paraprofessional Certification (NCLB), Medical Assisting, Printing & Graphics, Recording Arts and Truck Driving. High school students may enroll in classes for credit recovery and free career training in such fields as Audio and Medical Terminology online.

Opportunities for first-hand experience

Julia says, “CTE is different from high school electives. The programs are much more in-depth and hands-on about what you need to know to pursue that career. The goal is to have them either work or college-bound when they graduate.” During high school there are opportunities for firsthand experiences and internships. “Two years ago, the three veterinarian assistant interns were all offered jobs when they graduated,” Julia says.