Grant given to educate students on available jobs
By ANDREA JOHNSON, Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.comJobs are available in the health-care field and in the oil industry, but students at north central North Dakota high schools haven't always been given exposure to them, said Kathy McCracken, director of the new North Central Area Career and Technical Center, based in Rugby.
"It's really all virtual," said McCracken. "We have no building."
Beginning this fall, students from Bottineau, TGU-Towner, TGU-Granville, Dunseith, MLS-Mohall, Rugby, St. John and Westhope high schools will be able to take classes in health careers, marketing, information technology, electronics, construction trades and welding via video conferencing or online instruction starting in the fall.
The consortium received a $309,000 grant from the state to purchase equipment for the programs. McCracken said teachers at the schools will teach the classes using interactive television. No new teachers had to be hired for the program, but new equipment such as additional video units was needed. McCracken said all of the schools had classrooms equipped for distance learning, but the classrooms were sometimes in use for other purposes, so the additional equipment will help with the increased number of class offerings.
The welding and the construction trades won't be offered until the summer of 2009 due to the logistics involved. McCracken said they should be able to utilize equipment at the high schools. For the construction trades class, a traveling trailer equipped with the necessary equipment could be set up each semester at a different school in the consortium.
McCracken said a survey that was conducted showed strong interest in areas such as health careers and in welding. There are a lot of jobs open in those areas, but kids didn't have a chance to take introductory courses to find out if they are interested in those areas before.
The schools in the consortium have also had to be creative to develop the program because it doesn't have a building set aside for career and technical education as Minot High School-Magic City Campus does, said McCracken. She said this is a pilot program, but it might be a practical way to offer those courses for rural students. They've also hired a teacher from the career and technical center at Minot High to teach the electronics class.
Most schools in the area are also offering more courses due to the increased number of credits that will be required for high school graduation. This year's freshmen will need 24 credits to graduate from high school.
