Just this week, my daughter attended her first career day! Yikes! When did she become so old! At the age of thirteen, she does not know what she wants to be when she grows up. So for now, our focus is to finish this school year which will indicate that she has survived middle school. Once she begins high school, the focus will then shift to college preparation: PSATs, GPAs, and SATs. Are there any other “real-world” skills being taught? Very doubtful. When would there be time? And honestly, those skills are not as apparent, so many parents (and children) do not value them.
In “Merging Career Tech with College Prep: Why It’s Succeeding,” Kathy Brown introduced a fascinating concept: using hands-on activities in order to build technical skills. In the article, she discussed career and technical education (CTE). With CTE, the typical school curriculum is fused with career skills. Ingenious! Even as an adult, I tend to learn concepts more deeply when I can see the relevance in my own life, and CTE will take all of those classes in school and show our children how they relate to the world outside. I find this to be such a valuable skill. Many students, who do very well with academics, are not so self-assured in a work situation.
If our students can graduate from high school not only prepared for college but also prepared for a job or a career, can there be anything more important.
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