MCC Career Academies Offer Authentic Training, Experience
Metropolitan Community College and Ralston High School have partnered to give students a leg up on their career path by offering career academy programs in a vast number of offerings, including 3D animation and games, automotive, construction, criminal justice, civil engineering, diesel technology, welding, web development and horticulture — just to name a few.
MCC’s Career Academy program is designed to provide high school juniors and seniors with the chance to get a jump on their post-high school academic career by gaining practical skills for a specific career field.
The program is overseen by Jordan Pirtle, MCC’s director of secondary partnerships. The resources and knowledge of instructors give MCC the ability to prepare students for their selected career pathway in a much more in-depth way than could be provided through the high school.
“Academies here at MCC are allowing students to come to our campus and receive experienced instruction from our MCC faculty within a specific career field.” Pirtle said. “So, they’re taking the courses for college credit. All these courses that they’re taking, depending on the actual pathway will lead to a career certificate, or a certificate of achievement or through an associate degree path. Students are taking relevant courses within (their) career field.”
RHS students Brandon Cavendar and Kamille Adler have both taken advantage of the program and can vouch for its merits.
For Cavendar, construction was the field he knew he wanted to pursue and made diligent efforts in that pursuit even prior to being accepted in the academy.
Cavendar finished the RHS construction program of study during his sophomore year, which included courses in introductory woodworking, construction trades and advanced construction.
“It’s somewhat rare that we have a student so deliberate about a career field that they take that level of coursework early on,” Ralston Public Schools Career Education Coordinator Josh Wilken said. “Brandon had conversations with his guidance counselor, myself and Mr. (Brandon) Thoene, our construction teacher, about, ‘What is that next step?’ For him, the natural next step was to continue his education with industry experts and leaders at Metro Community College.”
While courses through RHS gave him a solid foundation, MCC’s Academy gave Cavendar specific knowledge from experts in the field while earning dual credit.
“They go more in-depth on things (in the college classes) while also earning college credits,” Cavendar said.
Each program is different, and the approaches taken by both the community college and the high school instructors are not one size fits all.
“As an example, we have a diesel program within our automotive academy program, which is not something we’re able to provide at Ralston High School,” Wilken said. “So, if we know that’s a student’s focus, they’ll often take their primary automotive classes (at RHS) first, get a base of knowledge and then continue that education at (MCC).”
WIlken added: “We also have advisory board members that advise our programs here at (RHS) who are teaching some of these classes at MCC, so it is good collaboration between our team and the MCC team in offering system alignment, so the students are prepared to take those college-level classes.”
This approach helps find the correct fit for each student, and the customization gives students more ownership and excitement to be in class, Pirtle said.
“You see that enthusiasm because students are actually getting to come to campus and experience something like fire science, criminal justice, automotive technology or any of career academies we have,” she said. “The students are excited to be there. They’re wanting to learn and they know that this is potentially a career path for them. The level of excitement that they bring to the classroom pays off in more ways than just academically, but the personal experiences they have can get them on a track for a career.”
Giving students a more raw, realistic experience of what the job actually entails was something that interested Adler, who would like to pursue a career in criminal justice.
“They told me my professors would be experienced people in law enforcement who have worked the jobs,” she said. “One of my professors is a former probation officer and another is a regular police officer who dealt with Nikko Jenkins and stuff like that, so getting that experience from them firsthand piqued my interest.”
To be eligible for the program, you must be at least 16 year of age, a high school junior or senior, have transportation to and from classes, regularly attend class, have completed an application packet and be approved through the student’s high school guidance office.
RHS students who are interested should contact Wilken for details.
For more information on MCC career academies, visit bit.ly/3EHnZvM.
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