February 2022:
Standing by a stove, Catherine Rhodes pours sugar into a mixing bowl.
Surrounded by two friends, the Glendale High School junior adds a second ingredient, measuring with a steady hand before pouring it in. Making cookies is her assignment today in ProStart II: Specialty Cuisine, a Family and Consumer Sciences class.
“We’re making snickerdoodle cookies, which is the recipe we chose together,” said Catherine. “This is our third culinary class, and I really like it. This is just our second week of class and we’re already cooking, it’s fun.”
Nikki Johnson’s culinary class is one of a dozen Career Technical Education classes offered at Glendale High School. From biomedical to engineering, construction to fashion, business and agriculture, these classes help students gain employable skills while discovering their passions, said Dr. Katie Kensinger, coordinator of college and career readiness.
“Career and Technical Education is all about helping students be ready to excel in life,” said Dr. Kensinger. “CTE students learn academic and technical skills, while exploring career opportunities in a variety of pathways. CTE curriculum also places emphasis on communication skills, interpersonal relationships and consumer and family resources, just to name a few. But in all experiences, students are using hands-on learning to gain real skills for real jobs.”
In Advanced Fashion Design, students were perfecting the basics of sewing. Students ironed fabrics to perfectly cut fabric and create a tote or drawstring bag from a pattern. Then, students sewed their pieces to create their own design – all foundational elements of creativity, fashion design and interior design, said teacher Janel Metsker.
“We’re using Craftsy.com, which is a peer-reviewed, highly developed resource for students to use that helps them create,” said Metsker. “With Pinterest, blogs, YouTube, there are a thousand places on the Internet to find templates and instructions. But they’re learning how to discern what guides to use, what resources to consider when building, creating or designing. The foundation of a great project is beginning with high quality and reliable resources.”
Glendale senior Marcus Hesemann was creating a fabric drawstring bag with a celestial theme, drawing on his creativity to create something unique.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy sewing, and I really liked it,” he said. “I wanted to do something fun that also has an artistic element. I’m going to the Kansas City Art Institute next year, and I want to explore every form of art. Sewing, fashion, creating with fabric, that’s art. I want to be creative in all forms, and this helps me figure out how to create art using fabric.”
Down the hall, construction students are building cornhole boards for the physical education department. Drilling holes, cutting boards, sanding boards and safely using every piece of equipment in the process are core skills to success in the construction industry, says construction teacher Mark Kugler.
“All of my students are in the Construction pathway, so they’ve expressed an interest in these skills, this career path,” said Kugler. “One of my seniors is headed to college to learn about heavy machinery at State Tech, another is pursuing welding, another is going to start remodeling bathrooms as soon as they graduate. So everything we do provides a framework, literally, for their success after high school. That’s tech ed.”
February is Career and Technical Education Month, a nationwide celebration and exploration of the impact and importance of career technical experiences for students before they graduate high school. To learn more about CTE at SPS, follow @CTE_SPS on Twitter.
Published Feb. 7, 2022
