{"id":133580,"date":"2026-01-14T19:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133580\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T19:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:21:10","slug":"oc-pathways-showcase-returns-to-unite-industry-leaders-with-future-workforce-ocde-newsroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133580\/","title":{"rendered":"OC Pathways Showcase returns to unite industry leaders with future workforce \u2013 OCDE Newsroom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/PANA7560-2560x1707.jpeg\" alt=\"Garden Grove Unified students in the child development pathway show what they have learned in their career courses at the 11th annual OC Pathways Showcase last year. \" class=\"wp-image-46600\"  \/>Garden Grove Unified students in the child development pathway show off their progress in their career courses at the 11th annual OC Pathways Showcase last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ededed\">Quick look: Orange County students and families are invited to explore future career opportunities at the OC Pathways Showcase on Feb. 25 at the OC Fairgrounds &amp; Event Center, featuring hands-on exhibits representing 58 Career Technical Education pathways.<\/p>\n<p>Orange County students and families will have the chance to step inside a wide range of career possibilities when the <a href=\"https:\/\/registration.eventpack.com\/ocpathways2026-general\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/registration.eventpack.com\/ocpathways2026-general\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">OC Pathways Showcase<\/a> returns to the OC Fairgrounds &amp; Event Center.<\/p>\n<p>The 12th annual showcase on Feb. 25 will offer interactive opportunities to explore all 58 Career Technical Education pathway options available through partnerships with school districts, business partners and community organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Attendees will engage with dozens of programs representing the breadth of career pathways available across Orange County \u2014 from food service to commercial welding. Hands-on displays will feature collaboration between local industries and student pathway programs, giving students an opportunity to demonstrate the industry knowledge they\u2019ve developed through classroom instruction and work-based learning experiences.  <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1296\" height=\"1676\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/12th-Pathways-Showcase-flyer.png\" alt=\"12th annual OC Pathways Showcase flyer\" class=\"wp-image-46602\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.7732706124947644;width:319px;height:auto\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>While high schoolers share what they have learned in career education courses, elementary and middle school students will present their innovations to judges, showcasing how they planned, prototyped and tested each model. Through the annual <a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocde.us\/students-use-stem-skills-to-solve-real-world-problems-at-2022-ocmaker-challenge\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocde.us\/students-use-stem-skills-to-solve-real-world-problems-at-2022-ocmaker-challenge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">ocMaker Challenge<\/a> Meet the Maker event, students demonstrate how they transformed classroom learning to create work-in-progress projects designed to address needs among their peers and on their campuses.<\/p>\n<p>For industry and business partners, the showcase will offer a firsthand look at students\u2019 skills across multiple sectors, as well as opportunities to connect with educators and programs that support internships, job shadowing, guest speaking and apprenticeships.<\/p>\n<p>Last year\u2019s OC Pathways Showcase drew nearly 1,000 students, parents and local employers, displaying the growing interest for career-connected learning for students from kindergarten through college.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen educators, businesses, workforce development leaders, and community organizations decide to truly collaborate, not just coordinate, you create something that\u2019s greater than the sum of its parts,\u201d said Kathy Boyd, executive director of Career Education. \u201cThis showcase is where that collaboration becomes visible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By enhancing Career Technical Education access for vulnerable student populations while advancing innovation through new strategies that meet current educational needs, this countywide event supports priorities outlined in <a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocde.us\/ocdes-5-3-1-plan-lays-the-groundwork-for-2026\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocde.us\/ocdes-5-3-1-plan-lays-the-groundwork-for-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">OCDE\u2019s 5-3-1 Strategic Plan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>OC Pathways supports more than 50 career pathways countywide, serving as a collaborative network bringing together school districts, industry partners and regional occupational programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Attendance is free, and students, families and local businesses can register through the <a href=\"https:\/\/registration.eventpack.com\/ocpathways2026-general\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/registration.eventpack.com\/ocpathways2026-general\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">OC Pathways Showcase webpage<\/a>. For more information, contact Amanda Baird at <a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocde.us\/register-oc-pathways-showcase-returns-to-unite-industry-leaders-with-future-workforce\/mailto:abaird@ocde.us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">abaird@ocde.us<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Garden Grove Unified students in the child development pathway show off their progress in their career courses at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-133580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}