Page 11 - Careers & Stuff 2021

hands-on work, so that by the time they reach sophomore year, they are ready to choose a direction and follow it.
“That is how we differ from comprehensive schools,” says Joseph Jones, superintendent of the district. “Comprehensive schools offer three credits in Pathways programs, but our students will earn 10. When they are done at our schools, they can step into apprenticeships, right into jobs and into two- or four-year colleges.”
New Castle County Vo-Tech has
a great relationship with Delaware Technical Community College, and Jones reports 55% of graduates who go on to college matriculate there. It also allows students to do two-week rotations during their entire senior years that feature two weeks in the
classroom and two weeks on a job site. “We don’t see them,” Jones says.
“They don’t step foot in school. They are working full-time. It could be on
a construction site, in an automotive garage or at a long-term care facility.”
Other students work one half of the day and go to classes the other half. Comprehensive schools may not offer Pathways options as intense as that, but they still expose students to a variety of trainings. The goals for both types of schools are the same: give students strong ideas about what fields they want to pursue. This gives them starts in their careers, but can also save parents money when it comes to next steps, since their children will be more informed as to what they want to do. Also, credits in specific areas can transfer to two- and four-year colleges,
for those who want to go that route. “When a student completes a
Pathway and applies to the University of Delaware, Delaware State or Wilmington, we flag the application
to make sure the credits they have accumulated are applied,” Rhine says. “Our strategy is to build relationships with institutions of higher education.”
Rhine estimates that 30% of high school graduates attend Del Tech, another 30% go to UD, with Delaware State (15%) and Wilmington (5%) gaining the others who go to college in state. When they get to college or into an apprentice program or the job market, they are better prepared to succeed, he says: “We help students develop their occupational identity and be able to access the labor market more effectively.”
Students at New Castle County Vo-Tech schools have access to a wide variety of programs, including biotechnology at St. Georges Technical High School (top left), computer network administration at Howard High School of Technology (top right) and culinary arts, also at Howard (above). Note that the culinary image was taken pre-COVID.
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