- April 24, 2024
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In an effort to tailor Flagler County schools to all students, the district is working to extend its Career and Technical Education course offerings to sixth- through eighth-grade students.
“Long gone are the days when you sit in rows receiving information and putting it out on paper,” said Kevin McCarthy, assistant principal of Flagler Palm Coast High School. “We’re teaching (students) how to be employees. You can’t learn that only with reading, writing and arithmetic.”
Currently, CTE options for courses are available for high school students, but exposing students to these classes earlier will give them more opportunity to explore areas of interest that might develop into careers, McCarthy said.
“Education’s no longer about vocational or academic (training),” he said. “You have to have both skill sets.”
Students will be able to explore multiple avenues of vocations through this program while still taking a core curriculum similar to traditional curriculum plans with the addition of two years, but the extension is also meant to help students graduate high school job-ready.
This not only benefits students, but also businesses in the community by bringing more skilled people to the county, McCarthy said.
"We can create a workfroce that will stay in Flagler County and contribute back to Flagler County," he said.
Currently, students enrolled in CTE courses take industry certification exams when they complete the program, but passing rates are low. In contrast to students enrolled in a technical school, who take concentrated and specialized courses, high school students also have other diploma requirements to meet and often take their CTE courses sporadically during their high school years, McCarthy said.
“(Students) haven’t had continuous training in one area, and then they sit to take the test,” McCarthy said. “How can they be expected to pass it? So, what we’re envisioning is a more seamless program from sixth to 12th grade.”
School Board member Trevor Tucker volunteered to work with the CTE plan to move forward with its expansion.
“We have children sitting in our classrooms right now who don’t want to be there,” School Board member John Fischer said. “Maybe this will create a better graduation rate or a better attendance rate.”
The program’s intention is not to force students into vocations or have them select a career in middle school, but to let them test things out and learn workforce skills that aren’t taught in traditional curriculums. This will benefit students regardless of whether they choose to attend college or to enter the workforce directly after high school, McCarthy said.
“I don’t even expect college students to know what they want to do,” McCarthy said. “I’m interested in working with those students who don’t know at all what they want.”
