The aim of the public-school system is to prepare students for their lives after they graduate.
While many will continue their academic studies by attending traditional four-year colleges, others choose a different path.
“College isn't for everybody. And we went through an era when everybody had to go to college and it wasn't for everybody. That's when you started to see the remediation courses go up. Thankfully the pendulum is now swinging back,” Kanawha County Superintendent Ron Duerring said.
That's where career education programs come in. They offer hands-on learning which provides a solid base in a number of different industries. Career path students can either enter the workforce immediately following high school graduation or take the option of continuing their studies in their field of choice.
“Many of these kids will come out with college diplomas and be dysfunctional. They're not going to get a job. But some of our kids going to technical, adult and vocational, they're going to come out and they're going to be employed and they're going to make good money,” Duerring said.
Carver Career and Technical Education Center is one of three facilities in Kanawha County offering specialized career classes. In addition to giving students a solid base in a targeted area, it also helps those who might otherwise struggle in a traditional classroom.
"I didn't have any motivation as a freshman," Carver Career and Technical Education Center junior Tanner Lee said. "The work we were doing, I saw no purpose to and I didn't see a reason to be learning what we were learning. Well, here at the CTE Center, especially in the advanced manufacturing class, not only are we learning our math and English, but we are actually applying it to the work world. So, I see a purpose for what I would be doing if I was still at Riverside and I'm putting it to work here in our simulated workplace shop."
The demand for skilled workers is very high, not only in West Virginia but across the country. Even if a student chooses to continue their education in a two or four-year program, there are many businesses offering to pay for those classes in exchange for a commitment the student will work for them upon completion of their studies.
“I plan on attending college. Ideally, Robert C. Byrd Institute and becoming a machinist," Lee said. "At the CTE Center, it is preparing you for a career but college as well. So, it's your choice after you complete your course here at the CTE Center to do what you would like and mine is college and then career. Sure, you can be successful as a traditional college student. But I think you will always be extra successful if you decide to expand your education."
Next week, we’ll continue our visit to Carver Career and Technical Education Center and look at different types of careers which can be explored and hear what potential employers have to say about those programs.