PRESCOTT BADGERS BOUND FOR SUCCESS

CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION AT PRESCOTT HIGH SCHOOL

Callie Oryall, JROTC Cadet Commander

Photo credit: TG Magazine for Talking Glass Media

Modern Career and Technical Education (CTE) high school programs don’t look much like your grandpa’s woodshop class. That’s especially true at Prescott High School (PHS). Some of these outdated perceptions of CTE still persist, although this is finally shifting as students, parents, and business leaders become aware of just how incredible many of these programs are.

“Part of shedding that image…is understanding that students who complete CTE are 97% more likely to enroll in a post-secondary education within eight years past their graduation,” said Francisco Ortiz y Davis, Director of CTE at Prescott High School. “And that’s compared to the 75% average for all high school students. CTE completers are much more likely to go on to two-year college, four-year college, or a tech school and their earnings are higher within the eight years past graduation as well.”

Ortiz y Davis believes the reason for these impressive statistics is that students who complete CTE programs graduate with more than just a high school diploma. They also have marketable certifications and skills, transferable college credits, and “soft skills.”

These soft skills include leadership, problem-solving, communication, team building, time management, persuasion, and collaboration. Soft skills not only prepare students for employment but also provide the basis for students to become well-rounded citizens within the community.

According to Rebecca Horniman, Prescott Unified School District (PUSD) Director of Marketing and Public Relations, the high school’s CTE program is an integral part of their educational approach. “Prescott High School is over 150 years old and CTE has been embedded in our curriculum since the beginning, whether it was called CTE in days of yore or not,” she said.

The Prescott High School CTE program is a partnership between Prescott Unified School District, Mountain Institute Career Technical Education District (MICTED) and Yavapai College.

MICTED is the youngest of the three institutions. A specialized school district in Yavapai County, MICTED was founded in 2008 and provides CTE classes for each of the regular school districts. This allows training opportunities to be more evenly distributed throughout the county.

In addition to taking classes at Prescott HighSchool, CTE students can also take courses at the MICTED building, co-located in the Yavapai College Career and TechnicalEducation Center (CTEC) near the Prescott Regional Airport. Together, Prescott High School CTE and MICTED have provided programs in Accounting Services, Automotive Repair Technology, Business Management, Digital Communication, and Networking Technologies.

These young learners work side-by-side with Yavapai College CTE students and can go on to enroll in more advanced classes through the college. This coursework gives them the opportunity to earn dual credits – both high school and transferable college credits – in subjects like Automotive Collision Repair, Automotive Repair Technology, Aviation Technology, Certified Nursing Assistant, Electrical Lineworker, Medical Assisting, Pre-Engineering, and Welding.

In fact, studies show that CTE classes boost student retention as they provide students with immediate, real-world connections between their studies and their future careers. “During Freshman Academy, every freshman has an opportunity to experience CTE, even if that’s not the path they choose going forward,” said Horniman. “They not only bond with their freshmen class and see what their high school has to offer, but they also get exposed to a lot of options and are able to make some decisions on their own at that time.”

But ninth grade isn’t the first time students are thinking about careers or technology at PUSD. “It starts at the fifth and sixthgrade level,” said Horniman. “We have the only STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) certified fifth and sixth-grade school in the state and only one of 153 in the nation.”

“So that starts early in PUSD,” she said. “Then they go to the middle school, which is seventh and eighth grade. They have lots of programs that will feed right into the high school CTE programs and then, of course, Yavapai College. So that scaling really does start at fifth and sixth grade in PUSD.”

THIS IS ONE OF THE COOLEST PROGRAMS THAT THEY HAVE OUT THERE AT YAVAPAI COLLEGE BECAUSE THEY GET TO WORK WITH SO MUCH CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING 3-D HOUSE PRINTING AND THINGS LIKE THAT. - Francisco Ortiz y Davis

As the nature of career and technology jobs change over time, Prescott High School CTE re-evaluates its programs to make sure they’re still relevant for students and potential employers. This is accomplished in two ways. First, local businesses and organizations are invited to join parents and students in a CTE advisory council.

Every year, CTE teachers and leadership meet with the advisory council to see what new opportunities there are to prepare students for the emerging economy. “We were approached by the Prescott Police Department to help promote a cadet program that they would like to continue,” said Ortiz y Davis. “We’re also considering a culinary program, an early childhood education program, and technical stagecraft.” Another field getting serious consideration is Advanced Manufacturing Methods. Ortiz y Davis said, “This is one of the coolest programs that they have out there at Yavapai College because they get to work with so much cutting-edge technology, including 3-D house printing and things like that.”

Hands-on training at Prescott High's CTE programs.

Photo credit: TG Magazine for Talking Glass Media

Prescott High School already has its own Maker Lab, featuring a 3-D printer, put together by Prescott High School Media Productions Teacher/Technology Integration Specialist Robyn Bryce. Ortiz y Davis thinks Advanced Manufacturing Methods could start with making something as simple as a smartphone stand at the Maker Lab and continue up through cutting-edge work like printing a whole house that’s being developed at Yavapai College. All of it creates an intentional path for students.

The second thing Prescott High School does to make sure their CTE programs are relevant is follow up with recent graduates. “One of the data pieces we provide to Arizona Department of Education is our placement surveys for graduates,” explained Ortiz y Davis. “Once students graduate, we’re going to reach out to them within the next year and find out about their work experiences and whether they’re going to continue in industry, or plan to go on to post-secondary school or a technical

PUSD's CTE program

Photo credit: TG Magazine for Talking Glass Media

Horniman said the core question is,

“How can we build programs that suit our community and suit the needs of our students, to set them up for success so they don’t necessarily have to move out-of-state, and they can make a great living here?”

Prescott High School has been answering that for the past 156 years. While the answers to that question have shifted as new industries come to the fore, PUSD’s commitment to career and technical education remains constant. As technology advances, so do PUSD’s efforts to educate and prepare their CTE students not just for today’s job market, but for the emerging markets and industries on the horizon.