Employer input critical for CTE program

Riverside Middle/High School’s Career & Technical Education program (CTE) asks employers to help customize classes for
targeted skills. Any CTE education the school does helps students find a career and get those skills. 

The school will host a Perkins meeting on Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the commons area of the school. Ag teacher Ashley Spatz explained, “One thing that we really want to do is to get local businesses coming and telling us what skills they want so we make sure our kids have. So, when they enter the workforce they have the skills that they need. Whether that be soft skills, like communication. Or whether that be skills like knowing how to form a T-joint.” 

Perkins is the grant through the Wyoming Department of Education. Every year the school gets money from the state specifically for CTE. In the past, the grant has paid for a hydroponics grow unit for the ag department and a laser engraver. In addition to “cool things,” the money has also gone towards professional development for the school’s CTE teachers including new technology. 

Spatz continued that having direct input from local businesses helps students understand what employers expect from kids they hire. It also could create work experience opportunities for the students. 

Riverside Middle/High School principal Mathew Jensen added, “We as a school want to involve our community more. We really want businesses to be involved in where we are headed as a school. The governor has put out his RIDE (Reimaging and Innovating the Delivery of Education) initiative. We want to specialize as much as we possibly can to help kids to where they want to go.” Whether that is a four-year university, technical school, a community college or straight into the workforce. 

Jensen said the school wants to get more students into internships at different businesses in the area “so that when they get to their senior year, and they are available to go out and do work experience, they have a couple ideas as to what (the businesses) do.” 

He gave an example of student job shadowing with an accountant for a week. The students would understand what it takes to be an accountant. The same could be said for the students working for a mechanic or a plumber. Jensen said they want the students to have experiences so they can make better decisions on what they want to do when they graduate. This is the main goal along with putting students on the specialist path they should be on for their career choice. 

Jensen continued,  “This is what the people of Wyoming want. They want our kids to be ready with whatever path they want to go on. If that happens to be a four-year school or workforce … we want them to be ready. Whatever we can do in the years we have to prepare them, that is awesome.” 

Both Spatz and Jensen really want the business community to come to the meeting. They feel the input would be invaluable to the business community and the school. 

Jensen welcomes any inquires. He may be reached as 307-568-2416.