Purpose

• To introduce students to the various real-world applications the department offers
• To develop real world skills for each student through simulations and projects
• To spread the multitude of options a student has in their future

Details

• Seven teachers in the Career and Technology department
• Currently eight pathways of instruction offered
• Cheryl Clower is the CTE department chair

Pathways offered and Teachers

• Animation and Digital Media, Pat Coleman
• Audio-Video Technology and Film, Coleman
• Business and Technology, Jeffrey Klein
• Culinary Arts, Clower
• Early Childhood Care and Education, Hope Via
• Entrepreneurship, Klein
• Engineering and Technology, Jonathan Winkjer
• Human Resources Management, Klein
• Nutrition and Food Sciences, Clower
• Therapeutic Services (Allied Health and Medicine), Julie McKenna

The CTE department earns its spot on students’ schedules due to the variety of pathways students can choose.

The department offers “clusters,” or categories, of classes with distinct career pathways. These pathways are designed to introduce students to real-world applications while provoking their interests.

CTE maintains its relevance to the working world through regularly enhancing its courses to match what subjects are currently pertinent. “Our department’s the fastest changing in the school, and it needs to be,” Clower said. “We added three new pathways just this year.”

This will be Clower’s 13th year at Starr’s Mill and her seventh year as chair of the CTE department. “My favorite part of this position is the constant interaction with other teachers and students,” Clower said. “That’s what I love most about teaching.”

Clower was able to teach culinary arts, one of the three new pathways. The other two new pathways are therapeutic services and human resources management.

The department’s quick development is not only limited to offered courses, though. Two more part-time teachers will assist in introducing students to the career-oriented classes that Starr’s Mill offers. The new teachers will help in Klein and McKenna’s classes.

With the current dedicated teachers and incoming help from the part-time teachers, the CTE department continues to grow under the advisement of Clower. “I love this job because of the continuous change,” she said. “It keeps everything exciting.”