Frisco Independent School District’s Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) provides students with numerous opportunities to participate in specialized classes that work to get students “future ready.”
The CTEC has a wide range of specialized programs that are designed to allow students an inside look at potential careers. These classes give students “real-world” experiences that will prepare them for the rest of their lives.
“All the classes here at the CTEC are very important because it gives the students an idea of what it’s going to feel like and what it’s going to look like,” culinary teacher Sara Hosford said. “Typically our students when they go out into college or into the real world, they’re typically a couple steps ahead of everybody else.”
The range in curriculum available to students serves as a great starting point in the career field. Students have the opportunity to try different career paths and determine what path is best fit.
“The honest, constructive feedback about how you come across in the workplace can often come later in life after you’ve had some mistakes and successes,” advertising and marketing teacher Elizabeth Gray said. “I feel like they get an early sense of what type of career setting fits them best when they start here.”
Not only do teachers see the benefits in having a CTEC that prepares students for their futures, students also enjoy their time at the CTEC.
“I’ve been to a lot of different schools and this is the first one that has a CTE,” forensic science student Sindhuja Panneuri said. “I’ve noticed that it allows students to explore their interests more. I think that it’s important for all districts to have a CTE center because it helps students explore their different career interests before picking one. Without this it would be really difficult to make a choice especially at our age.”
In order to help students understand the work done in potential careers, the CTEC offers many different internship opportunities. One of which, is interning in primary schools providing students with first hand experience.
“All of the students that have gone through my program have been very well prepared because I make their experiences and their internships as authentic as possible,” Education and Training teacher Nicky Fryman said. “These are kids who are basically co-teachers in the classroom. With the depth of curriculum and the rigor of the curriculum that we have our students do they could each lead their own class, and many of them do later on in life.”
The ultimate goal of the curriculum is to prepare each student for their desired career field. Each teacher shapes their class to create “future-ready” students who will go on to do great things.
“My students will look back at the time they spent in the workplace with really honest, practical feedback about their personalities and their work styles,” Grey said. “They will hopefully really count that as valuable insight into how they operate and communicate with people no matter what career direction they choose in the future.”
