Cooking fried rice in Culinary II, reading to preschoolers in Early Childhood III, programming a physics model in modeling and simulation all help students explore possible future careers. However, many community members are unaware of the extent of the hands-on work students do as well as the extent of these programs. So, the Career and Technical Education department hosted a CTE Rocks tour to give parents, business owners and even district employees an opportunity to see what Seminole County CTE programs have to offer for chosen schools across the county. On Feb. 25, charter buses full of community members in the surrounding area came to Hagerty during the first two class periods of the day, before leaving for Oviedo.
“Schools sometimes don’t get great press, so we just want to showcase all of the great opportunities that are happening.” CTE facilitator Vicky Lampe said.“You hear it all the time when people are like, ‘Oh, I wish I had that when I was in school,’ so [we’re] just bringing that to life for our people in the community that wouldn’t otherwise [see it]. It’s an opportunity for maybe a non-traditional visitor to come onto campus.”
There were a variety of different visitors on the tour. Some were parents scouting out the best schools for their children, some were administrators at Seminole country trying to see firsthand what the schools they work for are actually up to. Others were people of different fields, who were curious as to what the high school programs were like, there were even realtors in attendance who were trying to gauge the quality of the schools in Oviedo.
“It [went] pretty smooth, I’d say, just getting the word out and marketing it to the right people. Because it’s always after the fact that people are like, ‘Oh, I wish I would have known about that,’” Lampe said.
There have been opportunities for non-traditional visitors to come to Hagerty in years past. However, last year was the first year the county held an official tour to show off their schools, with this year being the first Hagerty participated. Visitors were taken to the modeling and simulation rooms first. Afterward, the guests ate a complimentary breakfast made by the culinary students, before touring their classrooms as well.
“They made egg cups, bacon. They had fresh coffee. It was delicious. And then we’re like, ‘oh, by the way, the culinary students made this?’ and they’re like, ‘What? students made this?’” said Lampe. “It was just nice for them to put two and two together that teaching in school is not how it used to be. It’s hands-on, it’s academic, it’s technical, it’s professional, it’s very industry. We’re trying to give students industry standard experiences and that’s what they saw today.”
The event also gave students the opportunity to show off the skills they learn through these programs, possibly even building connections. Such is the case with one Seminole high school student who got the contact of a pharmacist on the tour, which was their desired carrier.
“I think the students do such hard work. It’s cool for them to work hard and do it for themselves, and for grades and for the teachers. But I know my students love it when we have guests come through. Because the CTE people weren’t just walking through the front and hanging out,” culinary teacher Matt Thompson said. “They were going around my room and talking with the students, and the students were telling them what they’d come up with, and I could just tell they were excited about it.”
Due to the tour’s success, the county is hoping to make it a tradition, especially as new programs are continually added and changed in different schools. Next year, they plan on going to Winter Springs to show off their new Fire Academy. Inviting and impressing community members not only gets them more involved, but helps to spread positive word of mouth, which in turn helps the schools to get more funding in the long run.
“Events like it are important for them to just keep us in the forefront, because again, we’re trying to grow,” Thompson said. “People can take culinary and immediately start working in industry. I have several students that come to school just for this class. That means a lot to me because they could just take [a class] online and check the box and graduate, but they really enjoy what we’ve put together here for them.”
