Career Certifications

Career and Technical Education Month

4 of 4

Being able to declare students as College or Career Ready is extremely important to Opelika City Schools and this can be done in a number of ways.  For the most part, our teachers have a good grasp of what it takes to be college ready because all of them attended college and have at least one degree.  The difficult part comes as we work to get students ready for a career.  Of course we are constantly working to help students with the soft skills that are vitally important to all careers.  However, few teachers have had careers outside of education, so they may not know what specific skills are needed for certain careers.  This makes it difficult for us to know which certification a particular industry places value in.  Thankfully the Office of Workforce Development and the Alabama State Department of Education have worked to create a list of industry-approved certification tests that we can offer our students.  Unlike the tests that are created by teachers to assess their students’ learning, these certification tests are created by businesses to assess if a person has the skills and knowledge necessary for a particular career.

Opelika High School is excited to offer at least one certification for each of the seven Career and Technical Education Programs offered to students.

Certification Offered for 2015-2016:

• Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources - Landscape Management Technician
• Business and Marketing - Microsoft Office, Quickbooks, and National Retail Federation
• Early Child Development Services - Alabama Educator Certification Assessment Program
• Restaurant and Food and Beverage Services - ServSafe Manager
• Project Lead The Way (Engineering) - Autodesk Inventor (CAD) Certified User
• Health Sciences - Certified Patient Care Technician and Certified Pharmacy Technician
• Information Technology - C-Tech Certified Copper Cabling Specialist

As always, Opelika City Schools is looking for ways of improving its Career and Technical Education Programs to better serve our students and our community.  This means that we must look for ways of better preparing our students to become valuable members of our community.  Therefore in the upcoming school year, Opelika High School is exploring the possibility of adding the following certifications.

• Business and Marketing - Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign
• Restaurant and Food and Beverage Services - ProStart National Certificate of Achievement
• Health Sciences - Certified Nursing Assistant
• Information Technology - C-Tech Certified Fiber Optic Cabling Specialist

If you know of other industry-recognized certifications that you feel would benefit our students after they graduate from Opelika High School, feel free to contact us with that information.