CTE Programs Give Students Real-life Skills, and Self-Esteem, too
Last February, the School District of Philadelphia showcased Career and Technical Education (CTE) through a month-long celebration that included a CTE Fair at District headquarters.
The CTE Fair, which took place on February 17, featured students involved in a wide variety of CTE programs—culinary, graphic design, manufacturing and engineering, horticulture, fashion design, and visual communications, to name a few. Students set up booths that showed off the skills they’ve learned in their CTE programs.
At one of the culinary booths, eleventh graders from Murrell Dobbins High School gave out samples of their homemade almond bark and chocolate. “I want to be a master chef,” one of the students said proudly.
The student was clearly on his way to becoming a chef—the almond bark and chocolate samples were nearly gone after just an hour at the fair.
At the next booth over, students from Benjamin Franklin High School’s culinary program demonstrated their cooking preparation skills by handing out samples of gourmet corndogs.
“I joined culinary because it makes people happy to serve them food,” a tenth grade student explained. Plus, cooking is a creative outlet for him. “I don’t talk too much,” the student added, “so cooking is my way of expressing myself.”
Another Benjamin Franklin student chimed in, “I just love to cook,” explaining, “I’ve wanted to be a chef since I was little. A chef or a veterinarian. I want to have a Plan A, B, C, all the way to Z.”
Even if students are not planning to pursue a professional career in the CTE programs they’re enrolled in, the skills gained in those programs certainly prepare students for post-high school life. The skills learned in CTE programs are often day-to-day skills that will help students throughout their lives.
At a manufacturing and engineering booth, for instance, students from Benjamin Franklin explained that they aren’t necessarily interested in becoming engineers. One student said that she’d like to become a nurse. Still, she’s grateful for the skills she’s learned in her CTE program.
“I like to do anything,” the student remarked. “Now we know how to build things and create.”
The students showed off their manufacturing and engineering project—a mini house. The students demonstrated the house’s versatile uses—including a roof that can expand to become a deck or extra room—and said that they see the CTE program as extremely valuable. “Like, now I can build my own furniture,” one student pointed out.
Benjamin Franklin has the highest number of manufacturing and engineering CTE programs in the state, making it a leader in this particular area of CTE.
At another booth, students from Northeast High School’s AVID (Applied Visual and Interactive Design) program busily typed on their computers, racing to create a blog about the CTE Fair before the end of the event itself.
“I love this program with all my heart,” a senior AVID student said. “I love my teachers too.” She added that her favorite class has been graphic design, and she’s now planning to attend the Community College of Philadelphia to pursue a degree in computer-assisted design.
“It’s a great program because it feels like family,” the senior student said. The students in the AVID program are close-knit. Despite working on a tight deadline at the CTE Fair, they spent time joking with one another and talking about their post-high school college and career aspirations.
Another AVID student said that he joined the program simply because he “was really into computers.” His favorite class has also been graphic design, where students have had the opportunity to create logos and learn how to use Adobe Illustrator. Students in Northeast’s AVID program can even become certified in Adobe Illustrator—though this requires passing a rigorous test at the end of the semester, something that a few of the students expressed anxiety about.
Students in the AVID program also write content for the websites they create and write scripts for videos. The program provides a comprehensive sampling of visual communications.
At a horticulture booth, students from Abraham Lincoln High School displayed their flower bouquets. The students also present an exhibition at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s yearly Philadelphia Flower Show in Center City.
“I asked for a hands-on program, and this is what they recommended,” one of the horticulture students explained.
Students from Murrell Dobbins High School’s fashion design program are involved in an extremely hands-on CTE program. The students not only learn to sew, illustrate, and produce clothing, but they also learn about retail management, marketing, and modeling.
During the CTE Fair, students from Dobbins’s fashion design program modeled their original designs through a fashion show. Students functioned as both fashion show “stage managers,” prepping their models with makeup and clothes and cueing them for the runway, and acted as the models themselves, fiercely strutting down the runway—the packed atrium of 440 N. Broad—to show off their fellow students’ designs.
February’s CTE Fair highlighted the great work that students in the School District of Philadelphia do everyday. The pride in students’ faces as they handed out cooking samples, explained the ins and outs of their projects, and walked the runway demonstrate how CTE programs not only provide students with work-ready and college-ready skills, but also instill self-esteem and a sense of educational purpose in students.
