Dr. Denise Carlin<\/p>\n
The mission of the School District of Lee County has always been simple: ensure that each student achieves his or her highest personal potential. But for a long time-specifically the latter half of the 20th Century-schools across the country had a \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d definition of success:\u00a0College, college, college.<\/p>\n
About 20 years ago, however, the School District of Lee County realized something important. A healthy local economy isn\u2019t built on degrees alone; it requires a mix of talents. Think about it: our community relies on skilled auto mechanics, HVAC technicians, and plumbers as well as on doctors, accountants, and engineers.<\/p>\n
So, the district made a change. We stopped talking just about college and started reinvesting in career academies at the high school level. <\/p>\n
The goal was to make skilled trades and workforce careers a priority again. Now, students as young as 14 or 15 can start taking courses that lead directly to industry certifications. <\/p>\n
They\u2019re discovering what they\u2019re passionate about and gaining real skills that open doors \u2014 all while they\u2019re still in high school. <\/p>\n
The \u201cTech\u201d Advantage<\/p>\n
Today, career and technical education (CTE) isn\u2019t a \u201cbackup plan\u201d- it is just as popular as the traditional university track. The main difference? Students graduating from our two technical institutes-Fort Myers Technical College\u00a0and\u00a0Cape Coral Technical College-are entering the workforce at age 18 rather than 22.<\/p>\n
It pays off, too. In many cases, these 18-year-olds are landing entry-level salaries that rival those of college graduates, with some earning\u00a0$50,000 or more\u00a0right out of high school, often with zero student debt.<\/p>\n
Aligning with the real world<\/p>\n
Just like the housing market or the stock market, the job market is driven by supply and demand. Jobs that are hard to fill often pay more. That is why the school district teamed up with local business leaders to revamp the Technical and Career Education Program. We wanted to make sure we were teaching the skills that local employers actually need\u00a0right now.<\/p>\n
Middle and high school students can now explore a massive variety of career paths where jobs are waiting for them, including:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Building & Fixing:\u00a0Architecture, Construction, Manufacturing<\/p>\n
\u2022 Tech & Media:\u00a0Arts, A\/V Tech, Communications, IT<\/p>\n
\u2022 Business & Money:\u00a0Business Management, Finance, Marketing<\/p>\n
\u2022 Helping People:\u00a0Education, Health Sciences, Hospitality, Human Services<\/p>\n
\u2022 Safety & Logistics:\u00a0Law, Public Safety, Transportation<\/p>\n
\u2022 The World Around Us: Agriculture, Food, Natural Resources, Energy<\/p>\n
The numbers speak for themselves<\/p>\n
Every spring, we ask our seniors, \u201cWhat\u2019s next?\u201d Seven years ago, only\u00a014%\u00a0of seniors planned to go straight into the workforce or attend trade school. By 2025, that number soared to nearly\u00a027%.<\/p>\n
This shift proves that students and parents are realizing a successful, long-term career doesn\u2019t have to start on a university campus. More and more, those careers are starting right here, in the middle and high school classrooms of Lee County.<\/p>\n
Moving forward, it\u2019s clear that the \u201cnew path\u201d to success isn\u2019t just a trend, it\u2019s a transformation. We are proud to support a generation of students who aren\u2019t just waiting for the future; they are graduating ready to lead it.<\/p>\n
Dr. Denise Carlin is the superintendent of schools for the School District of Lee County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Denise Carlin The mission of the School District of Lee County has always been simple: ensure that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-166427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}