WISH-TV
There’s a growing push in Indiana to make sure the state’s high school students are learning job skills, along with math and history. And in February, Career and Technical Education programs are celebrating Career and Technical Education Month.
At J. Everett Light Career Center, students have a chance to participate in more than 20 Career and Technical Education programs. Those students come from several different high schools, the majority in Hamilton and Boone Counties.
The students spend three hours in the morning or three hours in the afternoon at J. Everett Light taking courses in programs like Education Careers, Veterinary Assisting and Welding.
“And the outcome is that they receive dual credit if they qualify for that and a certification, so we emphasize dual credit and certification in all of our programs,” said Director Shawn Wright-Browner.
Wright-Browner has been with the school for 13 years. In that time, she says enrollment has doubled.
“I think people are putting more value in the workforce and they want to keep population strong in their cities like a Lebanon and Noblesville. The way to do that is to train them and to stay there and stay within the workforce, which increases the value of the city,” said Wright-Browner.
Wright-Browner says the programs also increase the value of the student.
“We emphasize soft skills so we’re training them how to do interviews, resumes, how to talk to people,” she said.
For students who attend the school, it also gives them a chance to get hands-on experience in fields in which they are interested.
“It gives you hands on feeling of what it’s like to run a preschool class also like the steps you need to take to prepare the snack and lessons that you need to teach them” said Carmel High School senior
Regan Baushka. She is attending Indiana State University next year and plans to major in early childhood education or elementary school teaching.
“I didn’t really know if I wanted to do teaching. I saw all these kids smiling, it like screamed my name.”