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Auburn High: Cort Bradley
cort bradley
By Hannah Lester Photos Contributed By Cort Bradley
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Cort Bradley will graduate from Auburn High School as a football player and a pilot.
Bradley has been an Auburn native all his life, and won’t be leaving anytime soon. In fact, he’s trading one ‘tigers’ school for another — he’ll be playing football for Auburn University in the fall.
The graduating senior began his football career in kindergarten, playing flag football at Wrights Mill.
Bradley said he made a lot of friends through the sport, not just in Auburn High School, but across the country.
“It’s really opened up my whole world,” he said.
But football is not Bradley’s only passion. He also got his pilot’s license last summer during the start of the pandemic.
“I really love to fly,” he said. “My brother and my
dad are both pilots.”
Bradley hopes to pursue a career in aviation through his education at Auburn University.
You could say Bradley is well-rounded. In addition to football and flying, he has been in show choir since the seventh grade (minus 2020, because of the pandemic.) Additionally, he wrestled for three years and was on the track team for two years.
“I’ve always played multiple sports since middle school,” he said.
Bradley said he gives credits to both his parents and teachers, for helping him to achieve all that he did in high school.
“I think one of the more memorable parts [of high school] is definitely my friend group,” he said. “I really was able to branch out this past year and start hanging out with everybody and that’s been
probably one of the coolest things is just the connections I’ve made and then seeing where everybody is going. I hate that we’re splitting up but it’s really cool to see what everybody’s going to do in their future.
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A Different Kind of Education
By Wil Crews Photos Contributed By ACS Career Technical Education
Auburn High School’s Career Technical Education program provides students with the professional skills they need to successfully enter the workforce and the personal skills needed to be the leaders of future generations.
“ACS Career Technical Education programs have provided students with skill sets and opportunities that enhance their talents making them marketable for several entry-level jobs as high school students,” said Program Director Dr. Silvia Scaife. “With our industry-certified instructors guiding them through rigorous curriculums and real-world experiences, many of our students are prepared for dual enrollment in two-and four-year institutions, prepared to enter the workforce earning competitive wages or decide to serve their country by enlisting in branches of the armed services.”
When the Career Tech program was initiated in Auburn City Schools in 1994, Auburn High Principal Cathy Long served as director, noticing the need to enhance students’ business and professional skills.
“As always, labor and workforce development are the driving forces as to why programs are initially implemented because there is a need,” Scaife said.
Now, as of 2021, a total of 1,403 students within Auburn City Schools are enrolled in the program, assembling the knowledge they need to succeed in life.
Students in the program have the opportunity to choose from 15 specialized programs which fall under the Career Technical Education curriculum.
The programs are: Agriculture Environmental Science; Animal Science; Building Construction; Advertising Design; Television Production; Business Marketing; Teaching and Training; Army JROTC; Health Science; Restaurant; Food and Beverage Services; Food, Wellness
and Dietetics; Programming and Software Development; Precision Machining; Project Lead The Way Engineering and Work-Based Learning.
Each of the programs entails several directly related, sequenced courses that are taught by instructors who specialize in the particular field.
Jacque Middleton, Engineering and Project Lead The Way instructor, explained how his class differs from a typical high school course.
“As the CTE Project Lead the Way and Engineering instructor, I use the Activity, Project and Problem-Based (APPB) learning approach to scaffold student learning through hands-on activities and projects that empower students to become independent in the classroom and help them build skillsets to apply to a design problem,” he said. “The APPB approach provides students with opportunities
to work collaboratively, identify problems, apply what they know and have been taught, persevere through challenges, find unique solutions and lead their own learning.”
Similarly, Mike Brogan, Machining and Manufacturing instructor, also spoke about the hands-on approach he takes with his classes and the possible scholastic, personal and career benefits that come with that. He encourages any student who is interested in learning something fun and new to try out his class.
The Precision Machining and Manufacturing courses provide students with hands-on training on a variety of industry. “The Precision Machining and Manufacturing courses provide students with hands-on training on a variety of industry machines and equipment,” he said. “We teach everything from manual machining to programing CNC machines. Students are also taught the fundamentals of being a distinguished employee, soft skills along with critical thinking, problem-solving, time management and much more. Through our program, we have the ability to help students gain employment and career opportunities with local industry partners. We also offer opportunities to receive Dual Enrollment credits with Southern Union State Community College through our machining program.”
Business Marketing instructor Lanette Fargason believes that, as opposed to studying something like history or literature, which are subjects well-rooted in the past, her class is uniquely benefited by studying the present.
“One of the things that I think is different about business/
marketing classes is that we are studying what is happening right now in business news,” she said. “In addition, it is easy to apply what we learn in the classroom to real-time business decisions being made by businesses locally, nationally and globally. In addition to skills needed if you plan to major in business, our courses help students develop the knowledge to be successful financially no matter what career path is chosen.”
JROTC instructor Tony Benitez leads a different type of course, naturally. While, of course, centering around military service, he prepares his students to be leaders, tossing core curriculum to the side in favor of real-world ethos.
“The specific purpose of my class is to motivate young
