MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are prepping students for the future by helping them look at different career paths at an early age, through a program called CTE pathways.
“It’s definitely been a learning experience,” CMS sophomore Fernando Rodriguez said.
Inside Harding University High School, students are learning skills for the future. Rodriguez is writing lines of computer code to create a video game.
“I’m using this off as a jumping-off point to learn more complex things,” Rodriguez said. “Coding felt kind of daunting, so it is definitely a confidence booster."
A confidence booster is what many students need to be ready to join the workforce, experts say.
“The biggest thing about building the pipeline is preparing them," Ashlee' Campbell, CMS Director of Career and Technical Education (CTE), said.
According to a report by My Future NC, North Carolina is failing to prepare high school students for careers.
Campbell says she believes the CTE pathways program helps prepare students for the ever-changing job market.
“I believe it’s the solution because we are the access point to a lot of industry partners that come to us and say hey, we need employees,” Campbell said.
From automotive to carpentry, CTE helps prepare students to embark on a career trajectory while still in high school.
“I think it has to do with changing the narrative on what it means to go into the workforce, so a lot of times there’s push to go to college or university, but right now because we have these amazing programs within CTE students are able to earn industry credentials that can put them right into the workforce,” Campbell said.
But Campbell says to fill the gap, it will take everyone.
“We are partners in education, and we can’t do it without the parents and without the community,” Campbell said.
Contact Lexi Wilson at lwilson@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.