Bend-La Pine Schools celebrate career and technical education
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Bend-La Pine Schools is celebrating Career and Technical Education month by highlighting the district’s 28 Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, which are available in all seven of the district’s high schools and serve more than 1,600 high school students annually.
Nearly 1 in 3 high school students enroll in these engaging, hands-on, high-skill career exploration activities, from culinary and computer science to manufacturing and health occupations, each year.
The community can join the celebration by following along on the district’s Facebook, Instagram or Twitter social media channels, where one program at each high school will be featured every day for seven days in honor of Career Technical Education month:
- Tuesday - Construction at Bend Senior High
- Wednesday - STEM Engineering at Bend Tech Academy at Marshall High
- Thursday - Health Occupations at Caldera High
- Friday - Manufacturing at La Pine High
- Saturday - Culinary at Mountain View High
- Sunday - Construction at Realms High
- Monday - Computer Science at Summit High
In 2021-22, 1,686 high school students enrolled in a Career Technical Education course in one of the district’s seven high schools. Programs vary by school and areas of study include: automotive, business, graphic design, health occupations, culinary, construction, manufacturing, engineering, computer science, criminal justice, forestry and agriculture.
Patrick McLain teaches CTE construction and woods classes at Bend Senior high school. Students are currently learning real world skills as they build playhouses that will be equipped with residential finishes.
“This program introduces kids to a variety of trades and is designed to teach the skills to make them immediately employable after leaving high school. This program increases wages, consistency of employment and leads to higher quality jobs in the trades without having to take out student loans,” said McLain.
McLain is one of many teachers delivering robust CTE options that are of high interest and high value to students throughout the district.
“Some CTE pathways lead directly to college or postsecondary training while other pathways help students discover a high-demand, high-wage career option,” said Stephen DuVal, Director of College and Career Readiness for Bend-La Pine Schools. “In the past decade, we have seen CTE program options expand in our high schools, as local industries, families, students and colleges understand the value of students gaining hands-on, real-world experience through these programs.”
