Career Boost

Guilford County Schools launches five CTE academies

By Eddie Huffman

Khamani Ridley, 14, decided a long time ago she wanted to work as a pediatrician or in some other position helping children. A new program at five schools across Guilford County this fall will help her and others like her accelerate toward their career goals.

“I’m excited to learn more about the medical field,” Khamani says.

In August, she started classes in the new Academy of Biomedical Technology at the Academy at Smith High School in Greensboro. It’s one of five new Career and Technical Education, or CTE, academies that welcomed freshmen in August.

The CTE academies were conceived by a blue ribbon task force made up of local leaders in business and higher education as well as the CEOs of the Greensboro and High Point chambers of commerce.

Kathleen A. Dawson, chief innovation officer for Guilford County Schools, says the task force came up with a five-year plan.

“We are creating career pathways that will allow students to focus in on a particular area of study,” Dawson says. “We are expanding CTE from pre-K through 12 and we are creating new signature career academies as one new instructional model.”

Smith is also hosting an Academy of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering. Kearns Academy and Northeast High are home to Academies of Computer and Information Science. Finally, Western High has an Academy of Transportation, Distribution and Logistics.

“My high school students are being trained in soft skills, so they’re learning ethics, motivation, communication skills, teamwork,” says Art Close, lead teacher at the Academy of Transportation, Distribution and Logistics. “While they’re doing that, they’re also being taught some hard skills. We actually have an onsite warehouse. We have a $45,000 forklift.”

The academy at Western is working with companies such as Precision Fabric, Transplace and Fastenal for apprenticeships and career placement. Other academies are working with everyone from Cone Health and UPS to Lenovo and BB&T.

“These partnerships and community relationships really expand opportunities for our students,” says Marquita Johnson, assistant principal and academy administrator at Northeast.

Khamani’s mother, Kenyetta Ridley, saw her daughter’s enthusiasm for the biomedical academy at Smith right away. Khamani and her classmates started their Principles of Biomedicine class by examining a simulated crime scene and trying to figure out how a murder victim died.

“It caught her attention on the first day,” Ridley says. “She came home and told us about it. I don’t think she would get these experiences at a traditional high school.”

The CTE academies will extend to a higher grade level each year, eventually incorporating freshmen through seniors. Students are self-selecting and there are no admissions requirements, though they should be prepared for rigorous, college-level classes, Dawson says.

Over time, the school system hopes to create schools populated entirely by CTE Academies. Long-range plans also include a couple of model schools where the system will partner with a college or university and an industry partner.

“Students will be allowed to complete their high school degree as well as earn an associate degree at the same time,” Dawson says. “They would be graduating with a high school diploma, an industry credential, an associate degree and also, from our industry partner, guaranteed a job.”