Career and Technical Education Month

Career and Technical Education Month

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Many people probably do not know that in the education world February is considered Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month.  In fact, many people in the education world might not know that either, but February is CTE Month and for the next four weeks, I plan on providing you with a glimpse into what is going on in CTE at Opelika City Schools.  

Planning for the 2016-2017 school year began in October 2015 as teachers and administrators at Opelika High School began reviewing the courses offered at OHS.  This always leads to discussions of how OHS can better serve its students and the community by adding or deleting courses from its schedule for the upcoming year.  [This year was no different and in CTE there are a few courses that will be added in hopes of better preparing our students for life after high school as well as providing our community with employable young adults.]

AP Computer Science Principles

As part of the Information Technology Program, OHS will be offering AP Computer Science Principles for the first time in 2016-2017.  Students taking this course will receive weighted credit and be expected to take the College Board’s AP Exam during the spring of 2017. Additionally, this course will be able to count as a math credit for students.  There is a video link below that provides more details about exactly what Computer Science is.

Culinary Arts

OHS is very excited about the chance to expand into an entirely new program for 2016-2017.  We have traditionally offered students courses in Family and Consumer Sciences, but with the addition of Chef Judy Eldred to our faculty, we are able to offer students courses in the Culinary Arts.  Currently, students are cooking in residential kitchens, but OHS is in the process of creating a fully operational commercial kitchen for students to use during the 2016-2017 school year.  OHS faculty members are looking forward to tasting what Chef Eldred will have our students creating in the upcoming years.

Computer Integrated Manufacturing

As part of the Project Lead The Way curriculum OHS will be offering Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) as the third course in its Pre-Engineering Program.  The main focus of this class is to help answer questions such as: “How are things made?” and “What process goes into creating products?”.  Students will have opportunities to apply their engineering knowledge in this course to work through and solve real-world problems.

Certified Nurse Aide Training

Over the past three years the number of students interested in the OHS Health Sciences Program has grown dramatically.  To keep up with student interest, our Health Science teachers decided that they wanted to offer Certified Nurse Aide Training to their plate.  This course will allow OHS seniors to get the classroom time and the clinical time necessary to sit for their CNA Certification Exam prior to their graduation from Opelika High School.  So, be looking for OHS to have a few Certified CNA’s walk across the stage in May of 2017.

Senior Career Pathway Projects

All seven of the CTE programs at OHS have been working to find a senior level course that can be offered to students who have completed multiple courses within the same program.  For many of our programs that will be the Senior Career Pathway Project.  This course will allow OHS seniors that have demonstrated a strong interest in a particular pathway to take a class very similar to an independent study class.  Students will be placed with the appropriate teacher and allowed to select a project that interests them to work on.  This project will have to be approved by the teacher and be large enough in its scope to encompass the course.  At the completion of this course, students will be required to present their project and findings to a panel of related industry and community members for critique.  

Opelika City Schools is committed to “Educate Every Child, Every Day” and the Career Technical Education Department at OHS is striving to offer every student an opportunity to better their lives and our community.

For a complete list of coureses offered at OHS for the 2016-2017 school year you can access the Curriculum Guide by visiting the OHS Guidance  webpage.