Alabama Health Care Industry

Let me start by giving you some exciting information regarding our state.

Alabama is divided into seven Workforce Development regions and Opelika is located in the Central AlabamaWorks region.  Our region stretches from Lee, Chambers, and Russell Counties west to Perry and Dallas Counties.  The Alabama Department of Labor-Workforce Development keeps track of employment trends throughout Alabama and we use this information to make sure that the Career and Technical Education programs we are offering Opelika students provide them with the opportunity to leave high school with experience and certifications that will increase their chances of gaining employment or advancing their education.

One program that OHS offers is Health Sciences.  Looking at the top 40 "High Demand Occupations 2014-2024" report from Central AlabamaWorks, 25% of them are in the field of Health Sciences.  The Central AlabamaWorks Region also reports that 12.32% of the jobs in the region are related to Health Care and Social Assistance, making it the second largest industry in the region behind manufacturing.  According to the Local Area Plan developed by Central AlabamaWorks, "There are more specialized jobs in health care than in the past, due to rising cost and demand for health care." (p. 5).  The report goes on to state that, "Continuing care retirement and assistant living facilities have also doubled in employment.  As the population ages, so does the workforce in the healthcare industry." (p. 5).

Okay, that might not have been that exciting.

2017-2018 CNA students.

But what is exciting, is that Opelika High School is preparing students to take advantage of this growth through the Health Sciences program.  Students can graduate Opelika High as a Certified Pharmacy Technician, Certified Nursing Assistant, Certified Patient Care Technician, or with their Emergency Medical Technician Basic Certification.  The best news is that students who complete these certifications while in high school have the majority of the costs associated with test prep and test cost paid for through Career and Technical Education funds. This means a student can graduate high school with the training and experience to gain full-time employment in a growing industry or pursue a post-secondary degree.  With a certification, a student who chooses to pursue their post-secondary degree has the option of working in a higher paying job and gaining work experience while earning that degree.

2016-2017 CNA students.

An example of this occurred this year.  A CNA student who graduated in 2017 from Opelika High School became a Certified Nursing Assistant.  The student was immediately employed by a local facility with a starting hourly wage of $14.10.  While this is great, it is just the beginning for this student.  This student now has the opportunity to gain work experience that could possibly open other doors for them to advance their career further.

First OHS student to receive certification as a CNA.

It excites me to know that Opelika City Schools is providing these types of opportunities to students not only in Health Sciences, but in all of our Career and Technical Education programs.  If you want to keep up-to-date on what is happening with with Career and Technical Education at Opelika High School, follow us on Facebook, "Opelika High School Career Tech".

A visit from the Life Saver helicopter crew is always exciting.

Opelika High School Farm

Almost two years ago Opelika City Schools started the process of developing the wooded area behind the Opelika High School baseball field and track into usable land for the Agriculture program.

Aerial view of the wooded area behind the OHS baseball field and track.

The first step in that process was to have the underbrush cleared so that we could see the land and get a better understanding of the terrain and layout.

View of the land after the underbrush had been cleared.

Once we were able to walk/drive through the land, we were able to start developing a plan for what and where things might be able to go.  The decision was made to use a portion of the land for trails and plant identification.  Another section would be clear cut to be used as a school farm. 

After clear cutting the land to prepare it for a future farm.

The clear cut land was seeded to prevent erosion while the other pieces of the puzzle were being worked on.  In the end, we wanted the farm to have a variety of projects for students to experience and learn from such as fish ponds, vegetable crops, fruit trees, honey bees, and chickens. All of these projects required planning to make sure they were placed in spaces that best suited each one.  Before any of these projects could even get started, we had to ensure that one crucial element was readily available and easily accessed.  That element was water.  

Aerial view of the land after seeding and while the well was being drilled.

A well had to be drilled on the land to ensure that plants, animals, and ponds had enough water to keep them alive and healthy.  On August 21 that well was dug and water was hit at a depth of 170 feet.  The company digging the well said that the well at OHS would be in the top 5% of all the wells they dug that year for depth, water volume, and water quality.  

Now that the well has been dug, we are waiting for plans regarding the construction of ponds.  Once we know where the ponds will be located, we will be able to locate the other projects on the land. This will allow us to start putting water lines in the ground to ensure that plants, trees, animals, and the ponds have the water that they need. 

Ginny Gaberlavage and Collin Adcock
OHS Agriscience teachers

An aerial video of the OHS campus and land will be added to the Facebook page.  If you would like to know exactly where this land is located on the OHS campus look for the Opelika High School Career Tech page to view the video.

Follow Opelika High School Career and Technical Education on

Facebook - Opelika High School Career Tech

Twitter - @OpelikaCTE

Instagram - @opelikacte

Opelika Career Tech Continues to Grow

Well, it has begun.  The 2017-2018 school year has started.

For many of us it seems that summer never lasts long enough.  However, it is nice to get back into a routine, especially when that routine involves shaping and changing lives.  It is especially exciting this year as the Career and Technical Education (CTE) department at OHS continues to grow.

There are a few new faces that have joined us this year.  Mandy Baker recently moved to Opelika and will be leading the new Education and Training program at OHS.  In previous years we have called this program Child Development.  With this name change we are focusing student attention on the value of a career in education.

Jared Flemming has also joined the CTE Department as a Career Preparedness teacher.  Mr. Flemming will be a great addition to the solid core of teachers we currently have teaching Career Preparedness.

OHS will also be adding Arts, Audio/Video Technology, and Communications as a new program to CTE this year.  Tracy Tidwell, who has been with OHS for a number of years working in the video program, gained a CTE certification over the summer and will now be able to offer OHS students more course options within this field.

In the past five years CTE at Opelika High School has tried to make sure that the courses offered to students match not only the needs of our community, but also the interests of our students.  At the end of last school year we complied data to evaluate our efforts at reaching this goal.

For the 2013-2014 school year, OHS students pre-registered for 1,685 CTE courses.  That number has increased steadily for the past five years and for the 2017-2018 school year, OHS students pre-registered for 2,063 CTE courses.  We feel this information shows that OHS is adding CTE programs that interest a wide variety of students within the school.

Follow Opelika City Schools on Twitter @opelikaschools
Follow Opelika Career and Technical Education on Twitter @OpelikaCTE
Follow Opelika Career and Technical Education on Instagram @opelikacte
Like "Opelika High School Career Tech" on Facebook

Opelika Power Services and Opelika City Schools

Hopefully you have heard that the City of Opelika is the first gig city in Alabama.  What you might not know is that according to the High Speed Geek (http://highspeedgeek.com/america-gigabit-internet/) as of March 7, 2016 there were only 48 cities in the United States that offered a gigabyte of data to their residents. All this data is transferred by sending light through glass tubes smaller than the size of a hair bundled into fiber optic cables.

In order to run these fiber optic cables throughout the city or a building the cables have to be cut and spliced together in a way that does not interrupt the transfer of data. This is a special skill that workers at Opelika Power Services (OPS) have to be trained and certified to do.

At Opelika High School, we have been offering students courses in Information Technology for three years. Students in these courses learn the basics of computer hardware and software. Part of the computer hardware that students learn about are the cables that transfer data throughout our world. During the fall of 2015 OHS had 39 students test and certify as Copper Cabling Specialists. Copper cables are what most of us have plugged into our computers or WiFi routers in our houses. They transfer the same data as fiber optic cables, they just do it slower. In an effort to expand our information technology program, OHS started exploring how to provide students a fiber optic certification along with the copper certification we currently offer.  As you can imagine equipment that allows someone to splice a glass tube together is not cheap.  When OPS heard what we wanted to do with fiber optic certifications and saw the curriculum we wanted to teach, it made sense to work together.

With the support of OPS, fiber optic training equipment will be purchased to allow Opelika High School students the opportunity to become C-Tech Certified Fiber Optic Cabling Specialists during the 2016–2017 school year.

Since our students live in the first gig city in Alabama, it makes sense that our students be provided with the opportunity to become contributing members of their community.  With this new certification, it is possible for a student in the class of 2017 to graduate with the skills and training that would help them begin a career at OPS.  

Opelika Power Services is not only working to create homes in Opelika that are “Future Focused”. They are helping to ensure that Opelika High School graduates are “Future Focused” as well.  Opelika truly is a great place to work and live.

Career Certifications

Career and Technical Education Month

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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.

Dual Enrollment

Career and Technical Education Month

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For the past few years there has been a focus on making sure that students leave high school “College and Career Ready”.  You might have heard these words used to describe the new standards that Alabama implemented a few years ago called the “College and Career Ready Standards”, commonly referred to as the Common Core.  So, what does it mean to be “College or Career Ready”?  In a nutshell, it means that when students walk across the stage after four years of high school, they should possess skills that will help them get a job or succeed in college.  

Having students take dual enrollment classes is one way in which a school can prepare students for college or a career.  At Opelika High School, students as young as 10th grade are taking dual enrollment courses at Southern Union State Community College (SUSCC).  These courses allow a student to obtain college credit and technical training simultaneously.  In the Spring semester of 2016, there are Opelika High School students enrolled in Welding I, Welding II, Automotive Service Technology, and Engineering Graphics and Design.  These classes are housed in the new Center for Integrated Manufacturing building on the campus of SUSCC.  The classes these students are taking are no different than the ones taken by full time students at SUSCC.  In fact OHS students are in the same class with the same instructor as full time SUSCC students.  The only difference between the two is that the high school students had their tuition paid for through scholarships from the Alabama State Department of Education.

Depending on the program that a student selects and their dedication, it is possible for a student to complete enough course work at SUSCC to earn a Short Term Certificate in a given program prior to their high school graduation.  Currently, Opelika High School also has a group of seniors that are enrolled in an Emergency Medical Technician program through SUSCC.  At the end of this semester, these students will sit for the E.M.T. license.  

As registration for the 2016-2017 school year continues, more students are becoming interested in taking advantage of the possibilities that SUSCC offers them.  We are excited about that growth and look forward to helping more students become “College and Career Ready”.

Opelika Middle School CTE Expo

Career and Technical Education Month

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Opelika Middle School Career and Technical Education Expo

The time to start thinking about and planning for the 2016-2017 school year has already begun.  That means that every 8th grade student and parent of an 8th grade student is about to go through the transition from middle schooler to high schooler.  

One of the first things that happens to prepare 8th grade students for classes at Opelika High School happened on January 19 and 20.  We call it the OMS Career and Technical Education Expo.  We use this event to help all 8th graders experience some of the elective courses they can take as Freshmen.  Career and Technical Education Teachers from Opelika High School select student leaders from their classes to come to Opelika Middle School and make a short hands-on presentation to small groups of 8th graders.  It is a great opportunity for OMS students to see the many options available to them as they begin their high school experience.  It is also a great opportunity for Opelika High School students to practice the leadership skills they have been learning about in all of their Career Tech classes.  OMS students leave with a better understanding of what courses they are interested in as well as what those courses involve.  Our main goal with this event is to help students get interested and excited about coming to Opelika High School in hopes that they will take the classes that interest them the most.

The move from middle school to high school can sometimes be a little confusing, intimidating, and nerve wracking for both students and parents.  This is why Opelika City Schools offers a variety of opportunities for parents and students to make that transition a little bit easier.  For instance, on Tuesday, February 9 the OMS PAC Meeting will be focused on registration for 8th grade parents.  Staff from Opelika High School will be present to help fill out the documents needed to ensure upcoming 9th graders have the classes they need and want.  Parents will also have the option to sign up for an individual meeting with their child’s Guidance Counselor  to help ensure each schedule is correct.  For those that can’t make the February 9 meeting there will be similar meetings held on Thursday, February 11 at Carver Primary School on Carver Avenue and Thursday, February 18 at the Opelika Learning Center on Jeter Avenue.  

Prior to the start of the 2016-2017 school year, all upcoming Freshmen and parents can attend the “Freshman Orientation” held at Opelika High School.  This experience will provide parents and students a chance to get to know some of their teachers, see where their classes will be located, and gather information about life at the high school. 

As always, the staff at Opelika High School and Opelika Middle School are there to help answer any questions and provide any assistence to parents or students.

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.

OHS Information Technology

CAT5e Copper Cable

You have probably seen one of the cables pictured above somewhere in your house.  If not, turn your computer around and there is most likely one plugged into it or if you have a wireless connection, look at your router and there is one of them there.  This cable is one of the ways information is transfered throughout our nation.  It is made up of 8 smaller wires that have to be connected exactly the right way in order for it to work properly.

If one connection is not in the right spot or is not connected properly, the wire does not work.  When you send an email, at some point that message will travel through some copper cable before it gets to where you sent it.  If that cable is not properly connected, the information goes no where.  Think about how important that is to the society we live in.

In Dean Work's Information Technology classes, Opelika High School students are learning how computers work and how to create the cables that carry the information we depend on and they are doing an amazing job at it.  This semester Opelika High School certified 39 students as "Copper Cabling Specialists"  This means that there are 39 more people (teenagers right now) in this world that can ensure the information our society depends on continues to get where it needs to be.

You might also know that fiber optic cables are another way information is transfered.  This is mainly because of our societies growing demand for bandwidth and speed.  Opelika City Schools plans on offering students the opportunity to earn a certification as a Fiber Optic Cabling Specialist beginning with the 2016-2017 school year.

Academics, Arts and Athletics

This fall has been exciting as we have watched communities come together in Bulldog Stadium to support their teams.  Often we will hear such comments as "I wish people cared as much about academics as they do athletics."  In reality, the two go hand in hand.  Whether it is athletics or other extra curricular activities such as band, showchoir or theater, these are an important part of education.

First let's look at some of the skills that students learn in these sports and extra curricular activities.  These are skills that are also taught in the classroom and are life long skills.
1.  Be a team player.  Students are taught that it is not a one man show.  All students have to do their job, or the end product suffers.  While some students may have more individual skill, it takes the whole group -- a quarterback cannot win a game without his offensive line, a soloist cannot conduct the orchestra and light the stage, etc.  Neither can a CEO run a company without his/her staff.
2.  Persevere and work hard.  While players are preparing for a game, they are working hard day after day.  They go over and over the same plays.  They look for their mistakes and how to correct them.  This is the same message that is in an academic class.  Go back over the problem or assignment.  Look for what you may have done wrong.  Keep working until it is right.  Make it your best work.
3.  Self discipline.  When students participate in sports and activities, it is expected that the students will be on time, listen, stay focused and be responsible.  The classroom also needs students to be on time, listen, stay focused and be responsible.
4.  Be a person of strong character.  On or off the field, on or off the stage, in or out of class, teachers work with students on how to be men and women of integrity. Teachers, coaches and administrators are teaching students to be honest, trustworthy, dependable, accept diversity.....and the list goes on.  These character traits are emphasized on the playing fields, on the production stages and in the classrooms.

Probably one of the most important aspects of extra curricular activities is about relationships.  Research shows that when students are a part of a group, they are less likely to drop out of school and are more likely to make good grades.  Why?  Because there is an adult in the school with whom the student is connected.  Teachers diligently work to form relationships with students in their classrooms and get to know the students.  In elementary school, for the most part, students are with the same teacher all day long.  These teachers know the parents, how the child gets to school, who their friends are, etc.  In middle school, a teacher may only have 50-60 minutes a day with a student.  That's why our team concept is so important.  The team of teachers work together to ensure that they know the students beyond just their class time.  By high school, students may only see a teacher for 96 minutes for one half of the year.  Yet, the amount of time spent in extra curricular activities far exceeds the class time.  The coaches, club sponsors, directors, etc., become the adult that establishes a strong connection with the student.  Because of those connections, many students do better in academics.

During my career, I have found that most people do value academics as much or more than athletics.  But, athletics provides a venue for communities to show their support.  They cannot come cheer on a science class, but they can cheer on a team.  They cannot leave work and walk the halls to say "well done", but they can applaud at a performance.  To me, when a community supports the arts and athletics, they are supporting academics.  It all works together.  I am so thankful that I live in a community that shows it's support of our students and for our academics by filling Bulldog Stadium on a Friday night.  Thank you for rewarding our students for their hard work both on and off the field.  It's great to be a Dawg!

The Importance of a Rich Vocabulary

As we continue to identify areas where our students need to improve, we often come back to the fact that many students today are weak in vocabulary.  What exactly does that mean?  As children grow and develop, their brain is acquiring knowledge through everything they see, do and hear.  When children go on vacations and experience new foods and places, they learn new words.  As children hear adults talk, they learn new words and ideas.  When children read books, hear stories and engage in conversation, they are learning new words.
In the fast paced technological society in which we live and as poverty is growing throughout the country, children often do not have a vast range of experiences.  Conversations are more limited as technology takes the place of face to face interactions.  Children watch movies while traveling which may limit the number of "what's that" questions as they see unfamilar sights out the car window.  The list could go on, and this is not to say that technology is a "bad" thing.  It has changed the dynamics of learning which, like everything, has a ripple effect.
As the curriculum today becomes more rigorous, students are introduced to many complex concepts.  Students must have a vocabulary that gives them the words needed to understand the concept.  We have noticed that often when a test question on a national or standardized test is missed, it is because of a student's lack of vocabulary.  The student may have known the skills needed to solve the problem or answer the question, but the student did not understand the question because of unfamiliar words.
So...what can we do?
As teachers we need to make vocabulary acquistion about more than a list of words each week.  New vocabulary terms must be first taught and then used in context many times throughout the week.  Students need to see the vocabulary words used in books or other literature, and they need to hear the words used appropriately in dialogue.
As parents we need to constantly be exposing our children to new words and to new experiences.  We need to encourage them to look around and find things that are unfamiliar.  Use the Internet to show your child videos of historical events or important places or even "things" that they may have never seen.  In a third grade story our students read about the Wright Brothers first flight, this sentence is used:  "The Flyer was launched into the sky."  "Launched" is one of the vocabulary words.  Many students have never seen anything launch.  Think about how much more powerful this sentence is if the student has seen an airplane leave the ground.  You might be surprised at how many students have never actually seen an airplane take off and/or land.  Experiences that you and I might take for granted or might not associate with learning are important to vocabulary development.
Let's all work to increase our own vocabulary and to help children increase theirs.


One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die.

Evelyn Waugh

Time for School!

Excited children, new faces, school buses on the streets, sleepy-eyed teenagers -- yes, it is the first day of school, and Opelika City Schools are ready!  While many systems struggle with hiring teachers, we are proud to have highly qualified teachers in every classroom.  While some systems struggle with funding, we are proud to be expanding our programs.  To put it in the words of one of our new teachers -- "Opelika has it going on!"

What do you do all summer?  This question is frequently asked to administrators, and teachers are often told that they "have all summer off."  In the 10 weeks of summer, many of our teachers and administrators have:

• taught summer school, credit recovery and other summer classes
• attended up to 10 days of professional development in Advanced Placement, Project Lead the Way, Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative, Math Investigations strategies, curriculum standards, and many other topics
• attended conferences on Career Tech programs, safety in schools, Council for Leaders in Alabama Conference, Alabama MEGA Conference and special education
• ordered, received and distributed textbooks
• developed budgets for the new school year
• moved classrooms and prepared for opening day -- before their contract began :)
• attended school based grade level or department meetings for curriculum discussions and development
• tried to find a week for vacation

and most importantly

• interviewed, hired and provided orientation to new employees

Even with all that goes on in the summer, our teachers, administrators and support staff return the first day with enthusiasm.  They return with a mission to "educate every child every day."  They return with a passion -- a passion to make a difference.  

Welcome back to a system that "has it going on."

Family and Consumer Sciences

Part 4 of 4

Family and Consumer Sciences, which you might remember as Home Economics, is alive and well at Opelika High School.  In fact, Martha Cates is in the process of revamping the courses that are offered in order to help Opelika City Schools meet the new accountability standards.  Throughout the years, this program has provided Opelika High School students with the opportunity to learn about safe food handling, sewing, childcare, and a variety of other essential life skills.  Mrs. Cates has recently begun to grow the Early Childhood Education of this program as well.  It is her vision to offer students not just a classroom discussion about how children learn, but to provide her students with hands-on experiences in an elementary classroom setting.  Students are taking their book learning into actual classrooms in our community to truly grasp the role that teachers play in the lives of young children.  Through partnerships with Morris Avenue Intermediate and Jeter Primary Schools, Mrs. Cates’ students are partnered with an experienced classroom teacher and allowed to go into their classroom multiple times a week to work with children of various ages in an educational setting. 

While Mrs. Cates is preparing students for possible careers in childcare or education, she is also preparing them for jobs and careers in the food industry.  The next time you walk into any restaurant or food establishment you need to look for the “ServSafe” certification.  This will tell you that someone in that building has been trained and certified to properly handle and store the food you are planning on eating.  Mrs. Cates has been certified to give this test to her students while they are in her Food and Nutrition class.  This means that students can receive their “ServSafe” certification while still in high school, which provides our community with a well-trained and qualified workforce.  When a student who has this certification applies for a job in a fast-food restaurant or other food service industry, they have a better chance of getting a job and then being promoted to higher paying jobs because they come to the table with an established set of skills. 

So, the next time you walk into a restaurant and see their “ServSafe” certificate, remember that at Opelika High School, Mrs. Cates preparing her students help you eat safe food.

Health Sciences at Opelika High School

Part 3 of 4: Health Sciences

At the beginning of this school year, 2014-2015, Opelika High School was able to offer two Health Science courses that we had not been able to offer in previous years: Sports Medicine and Introduction to Pharmacy.  While it might seem easy to add different courses to the master schedule that our students are interested in or that relate well to our community, it is not.  Many decisions had to be made well before the start of the school year to prepare our school, students, and faculty for this change.  The first phase of this came when Opelika City Schools Superintendent, Dr. Mark Neighbors, appropriated another teaching unit to Opelika High School so that an additional Health Sciences teacher could be brought on board to help teach some of the new courses as well as the foundations course that prepares students for the more rigorous courses.  We then applied for and were awarded a grant from the Alabama State Department of Education to help pay for the new equipment needed for this expansion.  Thankfully, we had a Career and Technical Education Department Head, Tiffany Yelder, and an amazing Health Sciences teacher, Leigh Kemp, that made this process very manageable.  Finally, after many interviews Opelika High School Principal Dr. Farrell Seymore was able to find the right person for this new position, and he hired Natalie Downs.  All this happened prior to any student stepping foot into one of the new courses we were offering.  However, we knew we were on the right path after spring registration took place and we had over 120 students interested in the new courses as well as the Health Sciences program in general.

Since the beginning of this school year, it has been a pleasure to walk into the rooms of our two Health Science teachers and see them engaging students in conversations and activities that were designed to allow them to think about the many different aspects of careers in the healthcare industry.  Both Ms. Kemp and Ms. Downs have also had many wonderful guest speakers from Veterinarians to Pharmacy Technicians come to their classes and talk to students about the different aspects of their jobs. 

I have also had the opportunity to speak with Leigh and Natalie about the things they are having students participate in throughout the community and the ways in which they are seeking to continue growing the Health Sciences Program at Opelika High School.  The number of community events our students have become involved in is a great testament to their teachers’ determination to expose them to more than just the classroom.  Opelika students volunteer at EAMC, the Community Emergency Response Team, Blood drives, Auburn University football games, along with awareness and philanthropic campaigns throughout the community.  All this while still teaching and preparing students to compete in local, state, and national competitions through HOSA. 

If you live in Opelika, I am pretty sure you have noticed that the healthcare industry is a valuable part of our community.  At Opelika High School, we strive to provide students with the opportunity to leave high school with the knowledge and skills to become a valued member of our community.

Taping and ankle in Sports Medicine

Change bed sheets with a person in bed.

Looking up medications for Introduction to Pharmacy class.

Practicing injections.

Celebrating Career and Technical Education during CTE Month.

Part 2 of 4 - Fantasy Football Marketing

One of the many challenges of teaching is to find ways of teaching the course standards in a way that interests students and covers the appropriate content.   In fact, teachers are evaluated on their ability to do this.  Standard 1.2 and 1.3 of the OCS Teacher Evaluation Program state, “Activates learners’ prior knowledge, experience, and interests and uses this information.” and “Connects curriculum to other content areas and real-life settings to promote retention and relevance.”  It takes a lot of time and effort to create plans that not only meet the course standards, but get students excited about learning.

Mandi Edwards, OHS Marketing teacher, found a way to do just that through Fantasy Football.  During the Fall semester Mrs. Edwards’ students were assigned a project that would require them to apply many different aspects of marketing in a way that most of her students would enjoy and learn from.  Students were allowed to create a mock Fantasy Football team and track their player’s points throughout the semester.  However, this was only the hook to get them to engage in the marketing content that Mrs. Edwards’ was required to teach.  As these students learned about the different aspects of marketing, they took what they learned and applied it to their Fantasy Football team.  The assignment required students to choose a location for their team and do research on that location.  Looking at demographics, competition in the area, and possible corporate sponsors they had to justify their team’s location.  Then students had to select a team name and tie it to the history of their chosen location.  Once this was done, students designed logos, uniforms, and other merchandise.  They also looked at associated costs, pricing, and profit for their teams.  The last piece of the project was for students to create a variety of promotional and business materials that would help them market their team in their city and throughout the country.

It is experiences like these that will help our students make the connections between what is being taught and what is happening in life outside of school.  The great news is that they do not just happen in Mrs. Edwards’ Marketing classes, they happen every day in multiple classrooms throughout the Opelika City Schools. 

Career and Technical Education Month is February.  In honor of this, we will post a blog about something Opelika High School is doing in one of the six Career Tech Programs offered.

Part 1 of 4: Opelika Middle School Career Tech Expo

Part 2 of 4: Fantasy Football Marketing

Part 3 of 4: Health Sciences

Part 4 of 4: Early Childhood Education

It seems a little crazy to be thinking about the 2015-2016 school year in January, but students will be registering for classes in the upcoming weeks.  That means that every 8^th grade student and parent of an 8^th grade student is about to go through the transition from middle schooler to high schooler.  This move can sometimes be a little confusing, intimidating, and nerve wracking for both students and parents.  This is why Opelika City Schools offers a variety of opportunities for parents and students to make that transition a little bit easier.  For instance, on February 10 the OMS PAC Meeting will be focused on registration for 8^th grade parents.  Staff from Opelika High School will be present to help fill out the documents needed to ensure upcoming 9^th graders have the classes they need and want.  Parents will also have the option to sign up for an individual meeting with their child’s Guidance Counselor  to help ensure each schedule is correct.  For those that can’t make the February 10 meeting there will be similar meetings held on February 18 at the Opelika Learning Center on Jeter Avenue and February 19 at Carver Primary School on Carver Avenue.  Prior to the start of the 2015-2016 school year, all upcoming Freshman and parents can attend the “Freshman Orientation” held at Opelika High School.  This experience will provide parents and students a chance to get to know some of their teachers, see where their classes will be located, and gather information about life at the high school. 

One of the first things that happens to prepare 8^th grade students for classes at Opelika High School happened on January 26 and 27.  We call it the OMS Career and Technical Education Expo.  We use this event to help all 8^th graders experience some of the elective courses they can take as Freshmen.  Teachers from Opelika High School select student leaders from their class to come to Opelika Middle School and make a short hands-on presentation to small groups of 8^th graders as well as answer any of their questions.  It is a great opportunity for OMS students to see the many options available to them as they begin their high school experience.  It is also a great opportunity for Opelika High School students to practice the leadership skills they have been learning about in all of their Career Tech classes.  OMS students leave with a better understanding of what courses they are interested in as well as what those courses involve.  It always amazes me that there are some students who do not know that they will be expected to put their hands in dirt if they take a Horticulture class.  Our main goal with this event is to help students get interested and excited about coming to Opelika High School in hopes that they will take the classes that interest them the most.

The video below is a 4 minute summary of what all 8^th grade students experienced at the OMS CTE Expo. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr2aLLCsLM0