Career and Technical Education Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Program Paves Career Pathways For Blind, Deaf Highschoolers

A new program at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind provides students ages 14 and up career prep resources and job training throughout a six-week session.

As college tuition prices continue to rise, West Virginia educators are looking to expand career readiness resources for students who don’t want to pursue a traditional four-year degree.

That’s a mission Clayton Burch said he held as the state’s superintendent of schools from 2020 to 2022. And it’s one that has followed into his current role as superintendent of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (WVSDB).

Providing students with resources for career readiness now means “more than just going to a four-year college,” he said. “We got a lot of students that can come out with the skills right out of high school to enter the workforce.”

But the path to full-time employment can be more complicated for students with disabilities, who often face added barriers to job opportunities, he said.

“What we see is struggles that our deaf, hard of hearing and visually impaired students have. We see higher dropout rates. We see higher unemployment rates,” Burch said. “We don’t believe that’s just a lack of foundational skills. We actually think it’s a gap they have in support.”

To amend this gap, Burch and his colleagues at WVSDB have launched a new initiative: the Discovery P.O.I.N.T. program, which gives deaf and blind high school students a career readiness crash course.

The Discovery P.O.I.N.T. program helps connect deaf and blind high school students with industry leaders in the town of Romney, located in Hampshire County.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Students from across West Virginia can visit Hampshire County to practice job interviews, learn about day-to-day work responsibilities and collaborate with local leaders-of-industry in a variety of fields — from entrepreneurship to hospitality to music and beyond.

For students who want to pursue a four-year degree, Burch said there are more traditional college prep resources, too. The school wants to provide students with whatever resources will set them up for career success after graduation, Burch said.

The program will be held six times per school year, with its official launch in September. Each session lasts for six weeks, with students receiving on-campus lodging and free transportation to the town of Romney, where the school is located.

“We’re really excited that the state’s school for the deaf and blind is going to have this academy dedicated specifically to career readiness,” he said.

For more information on the Discovery P.O.I.N.T. program and how to apply, contact Mary Anne Clendenin, executive director of the West Virginia Outreach Center for the Deaf and the Blind, at 304-822-6660 or mclenden@k12.wv.us.

Final Week Of 2024 Session Looms, Budget Questions Remain

On this episode of The Legislature Today, there is just one more week of the 2024 West Virginia Legislative session. These last days of the regular session are usually when state budget issues are debated and resolved. But a surprise notification from the federal government that the state return nearly half a billion dollars in COVID-19 funds has several major legislative funding issues on hold.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, there is just one more week of the 2024 West Virginia Legislative session. These last days of the regular session are usually when state budget issues are debated and resolved. But a surprise notification from the federal government that the state return nearly half a billion dollars in COVID-19 funds has several major legislative funding issues on hold. Randy Yohe has more.

In the Senate Friday, the chamber advanced several pieces of legislation including bills on suspended school personnel, artificial intelligence (AI) and running for office. Briana Heaney has that story.

In the House, the chamber approved bills on gun shops, county funds and they memorialized a former delegate who recently passed away. Randy Yohe has more.

Also, hundreds of high school students filled the Capitol Rotunda on Friday to show off their career and technical skills. Emily Rice has more.

Finally, this session, our student reporters have been covering issues of interest to them while they have learned about the legislative process. News Director Eric Douglas sat down with Ameera Mustafa and Ben Valleau to hear what they had to say about their experience.

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The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.

Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Students Demonstrate Career And Technical Skills At Capitol

Hundreds of high school students filled the Capitol Rotunda on Friday to show off their career and technical skills.

Students from across the Mountain State showcased skills learned during career and technical training (CTE) at the Capitol on Friday.

From a 3D-printed cat figurine to freshly made pastries, students put on a show for legislators.

Aaron Fedorke, an instructor in engineering and machine tool technology at Wheeling Park High School, expressed his pride in his students’ diligence.

“Just watching them get that creative thinking and putting into real-world scenarios and things like that,” Fedora said. “[I’m] so proud of our state and our CTE programs in the state.”

According to Fedorke, CTE programs equip students not only with job-specific expertise but also with essential life skills crucial for employment.

“So we’re trying to operate it more like a trade would, or a company would, and as far as like, being to work on time, you know, even drug testing, things like that. Prepping them, getting them ready right out of high school to go straight into these awesome trades or jobs that are really available,” Fedorke said. “And employees that are employers are really needing good employees coming right out of high school.”

Ray Maynard, a junior at Mingo Central High School, spent the morning divvying out cheesecake bites as part of her culinary program. With aspirations of becoming a chef post-graduation, Maynard underscored the program’s role in honing practical skills.

“It gets me prepared more for the physical state like doing it and learning hair restraints and what you do with your body, you have to stay clean,” Maynard said. “And it helps a whole lot with just being prepared for when it actually happens when you go out to work at a restaurant.”

Don Shepherd, the technology integration specialist at Roane-Jackson Technical Center, emphasized the range of offerings in CTE programs.

“We have with us today, everything from cosmetology is here doing nail painting,” Shepherd said. “We have our welding students doing a virtual welding simulator. We’ve got drafting and robotic students who are doing some 3D printing, 3D scanning, and they got their robots and drones with them. We also have our health occupations, students doing blood pressure checks, and our culinary students made up some sugar cookies that they printed on our cookie printer there.”

Shepherd noted the importance of adequate funding to ensure students have access to industry-standard equipment and technology, underscoring the need for legislative support in sustaining these programs.

“Welding machines cost lots of money,” he said. “We want our students to have the same experience that you would have in the industry. So they need to have those same tools, technology and stuff available to them. So obviously, funding is important.”

Middle School Career And Technical Training Hopes To Improve Student Engagement, Employment

“I’ve seen kids go to college and have no idea what they want to be and go get a political science degree, then they can’t get a job,” Hardesty said. “I am sick and tired of a counselor telling a kid in the welding program ‘You don’t want to be a welder’ when he can go out and make $40 an hour and get hired today.”

Career and technical education (CTE) programs for middle schoolers are growing across the state, and educators say they’re improving academic outcomes.

Passed in 2020, House Bill 4790 allowed career and technical education to be taught in middle school. Programs range from the “Discover Your Future” program – which introduces middle schoolers to future career opportunities across 16 career clusters – to the “Empowerment Collaborative” which focuses on content and career exploration through community-based, student-driven projects.

Clinton Burch, technical education officer for the West Virginia Department of Education, told the state Board of Education Wednesday that 56 percent of the state’s middle school population have participated in a career exploration course.

“We have a lot of stuff going on with CTE, a lot of expansion happening with your support, a lot of classes offering,” he said. “Currently you have 30,786 students that have participated in a career exploration course.”

Board President Paul Hardesty thanked Burch for his work, and expressed his frustration at hearing of students being guided away from trades and towards college.

Burch highlighted the importance of showing students and their families the variety of opportunities available to them early so that they stay motivated and engaged in their education.

“It’s this idea of actually educating parents as early as elementary school on the benefits of career technical education, how it aligns very robustly with academics and by students exploring various careers at an early age, how it’s going to set them up for that success, so that you don’t have students who are just looking at college as the only option,” he said.

In response to a question from board member Debra Sullivan about the promotion of teaching as a career option, Burch highlighted the work of the new Grow Your Own program, but also stressed the need for service personnel in schools across the state.

“We did a survey a few years ago, and you’ve heard me say this before, the majority of kids, over 98 percent of them, actually did not want to move more than 50 miles from their hometown,” he said. “Who’s the largest employer in most of our hometowns? It’s our Board of Education and they’re always looking just as we are short on teachers that are always looking for service personnel.”

Student Success Summit Focuses On Being ‘Career-Ready’

Hundreds of teachers from across the state will gather in Charleston this week – to learn how to incorporate the concept of being “career-ready” into their lesson plans.

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, the West Virginia Community and Technical College System, and the West Virginia Department of Education will host this year’s West Virginia Student Success Summit. This is a collaborative event focusing on creating seamless and supportive lifelong learning systems for the state’s students.

The 2023 theme is “Creating a Career-Ready West Virginia.” The plan is to focus on forging student pathways to meet the demand of future job markets.

Sarah Tucker is West Virginia’s chancellor of higher education for the state. She said the summit is meant to refresh teachers on the state’s new educational goals.

“It’s really an opportunity for them to have a couple of days to workshop things that are working well in their classrooms,” Tucker said. “To take a step back and think differently about the work that they’re doing. This one is particularly focused on becoming career ready.”

She said many students are not aware of the state’s many new economic development job prospects, such as Nucor Steel and Form Energy. She hopes this summit will help teachers enhance their educational message.

“Our students don’t know about them,” Tucker said. “They don’t have any idea. They are concerned that staying in West Virginia will mean that they don’t have very many prospects, and the exact opposite is true right now. And so how do we get that message across to them? How do we arm them with that information so that they know that they can talk with their students about all of these opportunities and possibilities that are happening in our state right now?”

Participants will include educators, counselors and administrators from the pre-school, elementary, secondary and postsecondary education systems; workforce professionals; business and community leaders and military personnel.

Additionally, there will be a student showcase in the afternoon on the first day of the summit where student organizations will demonstrate innovative career-driven projects and programs.

The Student Success Summit runs Wednesday and Thursday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Toyota Expands Student Program To Include Putnam County

Toyota West Virginia is expanding its high school education program in West Virginia where students get hands-on manufacturing experience before graduation.

Juniors and seniors in Putnam County can now join the 4T Academy, a work-based learning program at the Buffalo, West Virginia facility.

Students gain real world experience in electrical, pneumatics, hydraulics, precision machining, industrial automation, robotics and more while working alongside and learning from industry professionals. Seniors receive an hourly wage during their final semester in the program.

Toyota West Virginia established the program last year in a partnership with Kanawha County Schools along with The Education Alliance and Purdue University’s Indiana Manufacturing Competitiveness Center.

Twenty-four Putnam County students from five schools will join 12 Kanawha County students from eight schools in the program next year.