Iola High School is continuing to reshape its efforts to prepare students for life beyond graduation.
Instructors Dana Daugharthy and Lisa Wicoff spoke Wednesday at a career technology education (CTE) showcase and advisory board meeting about the school’s evolving Pathways programs.
Pathways are developed to help guide students with specific skill sets and interests to find courses of study that could lead to potential careers or college studies.
IHS will have 19 such pathways to pick from for the 2023-24 school year, said Daugharthy, who is in his first year as a CTE pathways coordinator.
“We’ve been in flux over the past five years about the courses and pathways we offer,” he explained. “My job coming in was to fine-tune what we’re doing, find what’s feasible, and be accurate about what we’re offering.”
He started by explaining the pathways concept: Pathways are elective courses for students that have been targeted as “really important” because mastering them could net a high demand (and often high-paying) career.
The pathways run across the spectrum, for such things as comprehensive ag science and manufacturing, to restaurant and event management or fashion, apparel and interior design.
New to IHS next year will be computer programming and software development.
The fit doesn’t have to be perfect, he noted, particularly for younger students who may be unaware of interests until they’ve learned about all of the available options.
Nevertheless, the goal is to make students aware of the pathways early — as early as seventh grade, in fact.
“Then we just update, update, update,” those pathways, Daugharthy said. “We want to make the students constantly aware of the career opportunities locally and across the state. What do we offer to help you get to where you want to go?”
Getting input from the community is vital, he noted, because that input helps the state decide which career paths are in most need.
Daugharthy also spoke briefly about internships made possible through the cooperation of local businesses, some of which are even paid.
“Obviously, getting paid to go to school is a pristine gig,” he said.
Many of the CTE courses are funded through Perkins Grant monies, said Wicoff, who teaches anatomy and physiology classes at the Regional Rural Tech Center and serves as CTE coordinator for USD 257.
