Updating Career and Vocational-Technical Education

Just as we are concerned with core competencies in traditional subject areas (e.g., math, science, English, and history), and the promotion of creativity through music and art offerings, we must also be concerned with the practical application of the core competencies and creativity. The entire field of real world design, creation, and maintenance are in play here. These activities develop in students a range of complementary skills that greatly increase their chances of success in a rapidly evolving world.

Summary of Proposed Solution

We will offer middle and high school students a wide range of career and technical-vocational course offerings, emphasizing technology-based offerings that will provide our students with the skills they need to compete and to succeed in a global marketplace.

Discussion and Implementation Plan

This vital area deserves our strong and creative support. The basic skills in math, science, and the arts supported by communication skills built on literacy find life here in activities that include:

• Design and visual communication, including CAD (Computer Aided Design);
• Technical and engineering understanding and maintenance of machinery from automobiles to computers and computer networking;
• Designing and building mechanical/electrical/fluid system structures such as small buildings or robots;
• Human development studies, including the developing child; and
• Culinary arts.

This area will surely see new ideas developed as our students acquire a much more complex and sophisticated set of real world competencies than they may have in the past. Think of Leonardo da Vinci: scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. That is the vision for this area. Mathematics infuses engineering. Chemistry, physics and biology infuse culinary arts. Human visual perception infuses design and visual communication.

In order to ensure continued vitality in this area, we will ask the school administrators to conduct a systematic periodic review of our voc-tech offerings. The purpose of the review will be to evaluate how well the system’s offerings are aligned with current and projected technologies and job market demands. Based on the findings of this group, we will make appropriate adjustments to our mix of voc-tech offerings.