Gridley High Principal Joey Adame had a powerful and exciting message for school board members and the audience April 8, when he introduced Career and Technical Pathway Academies. Adame has worked with a design team of teachers including Ag Teacher Nick Dreesman and Instructional and Technology Coach Michael Pilakowski who both helped him present Wednesday night.
These efforts at the high school are supported by a Pathways Grant in the amount of $223,000 over the next four years to develop Ag Manufacturing and Information Computer Technology. The grant will cover the expenses of books and supplies for the students, travel and conferences for teachers and Pathway lead teacher stipends.
The GHS team has also been assisted by Butte County Office of Education personnel as well as consultants from the National Academy Foundation (NAF) which is providing some of the curriculum as well as organizational support.
NAF is a partnership of 667 academies across 40 states with curriculum drawn from current industry and educational expertise. There are 141 academies in California alone. “Research says the academy really does well for kids,” Adame stated. According to the NAF website, at www.naf.org, “NAF has refined a proven model that provides young people access to industry-specific curricula, work-based learning experiences and relationships with business professionals.”
There are many future opportunities for the students who have gone through these academies, one of which is the promise that companies such as AT&T and Verizon give special consideration to applicants completing with a NAF Track certificate.
“Large corporations such as these recognize the potential and bump the kids ahead of other people when they have the NAF approval. There is also a promise to give kids feedback as to what they can do better during interview,” Adame stated.
Ag manufacturing courses will include: Ag Principles of Manufacturing, Ag Welding 1, Ag Welding 2, Ag ROP Fabrication, and Ag Graphic Manufacturing. Students completing the sequence will receive several industry certifications including OSHA workplace safety and welding certification. The ag department is working with Butte College to make sure their classes align with the college so students can also receive college credits while working through the program.One of the goals of the program is to have the students paid as interns at local businesses.
“We have had kids at the State level doing this already, it isn’t new to us,” Dreesman stated. “This is major stuff when kids can get certification and recognition at graduation as graduates of our academy, besides a diploma. We are pretty excited about it,” he said. “With a forklift certificate, any student, regardless if they are going to a junior college or a university will be able to get a job with this certificate and make above minimum wage,” Dreesman added. Superintendent Rick Rubino chimed in to tell board members, “Nick has had students come back and say they are making more than him. I think this program will create more of that!”
An excellent video created by Gridley High multimedia students was shown to the delight of those attending the meeting. This video will be used to promote the academies to incoming eight graders and their parents.
Pilakowski explained the ICT Academy – Information and Computer Technology – features a series of semester and year-long classes including: Principles of Information Technology, Graphic Design, Introduction to Computer Programming, Computer Technology and Repair, Digital Photography, ROP Digital Video Production and Multi-media and 3D Animation. The courses will also include employment portfolio creation, mock interviews, job shadowing, internships, and industry certifications such as Microsoft Office Specialist and IC3 (Internet and Computing Core Certification).
“True industry IT professional certifications like A+ require a lot more on the job hours than the kids can have available in the program. We also tried to build around the strengths of the existing teachers,” Pilakowski stated.
Both academies, the Ag Manufacturing and ICT, feature work-based learning and include mock interviews, informational interviews, job shadowing, guest speakers, worksite tours and career fairs.
“Students will leave Gridley High with more than just a diploma. They will have certificates and experience to be more competitive in securing higher paying jobs,” Adame stated.
“We are providing more opportunities for our kids such as how to become productive citizens, receive decent pay and it is very exciting,” Adame added. Two more academies are also in early development stages for future years.
Parents have been invited to attend two upcoming forums at the Gridley Community Center. On Tuesday, April 14 at 6 p.m. the high school will feature its academies as well as changes in Common Core math and other course offerings. On Tuesday, April 21 there will be a district-wide presentation at which each school will have 10 minutes to explain the great things that they are doing this year. The April 21 forum begins at 6:30 p.m. Parents of inter-district students and students of Manzanita School are all also invited.