In Victoria ISD we are committed to every student Finding Their &, and we know everyone's ‘and’ is different. The end goal for the District is that a student has one of the 3 E’s: enrollment, enlistment, and/or employment.
Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses can be highly beneficial for students after graduation by providing them with practical skills and real-world experience that can help them succeed in their chosen career fields. Here are some of the ways CTE courses can help students after graduation:
Job readiness
CTE courses focus on developing skills and knowledge related to specific careers. This means that students who complete CTE courses are better prepared for the workforce and have a better understanding of what employers are looking for in job candidates.
Our VISD students have a variety of ways to participate in work-based learning and experiences with our local business and industry partners.
One way is through job shadowing. This is learning through observation and is a way to form partnerships between employers and local schools. Shadowing is an opportunity for a student to spend time with an individual in a chosen occupation in order to become familiar with the duties associated with that occupation, the physical setting of the occupation, and the compatibility of the occupation with their own career goals.
Internships are another chance to gain invaluable experiences in the workforce. Internships give students opportunities to explore careers via workplace learning experiences. Internships are paid or unpaid, short-term work-based learning experience.
We also offer Apprenticeships and Practicum courses where our community partners provide pre-apprenticeship opportunities to secondary students. This is a skills trade industry-driven program to create a pipeline for students to gain practical experiences and enter post-secondary apprenticeship training. The unique feature of this concept is that on-the-job training is supplemented with technical classroom instruction. Apprentices work under the supervision of qualified journey workers to develop their chosen trade or skill and learn the techniques, materials, and equipment associated with that trade.
We have great industry partners in our community, beginning with Tejas Production Services.
Tejas has been partnering with VISD for several years by providing a manufacturing practicum worksite for students and summer internships for students to practice their skills. Through this partnership, Tejas enhances our community by adding skilled VISD graduates to our local workforce.
Additionally, we enjoy a strong partnership with CivilCorp LLC in working with our STEM students in providing relevant hands-on practicum experiences. CivilCorp has encouraged and helped promote our students by inspiring them to pursue their career goals.
Our local public service organizations, Victoria Police Department, Victoria County Sheriff’s Department, and Victoria County Juvenile Detention Center have a shared commitment to provide VISD students with meaningful and real-life opportunities. We have been fortunate to partner with these three organizations over the years and have seen the integration of our VISD graduates as they secured employment in the public services community.
Other local partners include Compadres Design Inc. and Chick-Fil-A Corporate Office for our Graphic Design program of study, Hillcrest Animal Hospital, Navarro Small Animal Clinic, and Acres of Animals for our Agriculture program of study, BKG Machine & Fabrication for our Manufacturing program of study and Outlaw Offroad for our Automotive program of study, to name a few.
We are also working with new partners for the 2023-24 school year, Keating Auto Group and HoltCat for our Automotive program of study. We are grateful for all of our partners and are always looking for new partners to help our students in their chosen career paths.
And finally, our Career Preparation Classes provide an opportunity for students to secure employment while in high school. Students report to class for one period and are released early to report to their job site.
Industry-specific skills
CTE courses are designed to provide students with hands-on experience and training in specific industries. This means that students who complete CTE courses are often better equipped with industry-specific skills that are highly valued by employers.
VISD, in collaboration with Golden Crescent Workforce Solutions, identifies trends in the regional labor market to determine focused needs in our area in terms of job training and work-based learning.
Specifically, we look at the Target Occupations List and solicit feedback from our local business and industry partners to establish pathways for students to gain skills and experiences that will prepare them to enter our local job market. Using what we learn from this process, we are able to provide students with aligned classwork and experiences that will ultimately lead them to discover their & through the occupational training they have received both in and out of the classroom.
Overall, CTE courses can be highly valuable for students after graduation by providing them with practical skills, real-world experience, and a successful launch into a career, technical school, college, university, or military.
Andrea Pope is the Innovation Programs Counselor for VISD.