FRISCO, TX— High school is a period of opportunity that students have to break out of the familiar hallways of their respective high school and take new steps into the Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) to branch out into the floors and classrooms that may guide them into their future careers as engineers, Human Relations (HR) Department workers, pharmacists, Cybersecurity Specialists, law enforcement officials, and more. Frisco Independent School District (FISD) is known for its diversity in opportunities applied with the motto: “our mission is to know every student by name and need” in their academics, peer and faculty relationships, and career opportunities. FISD is known for allowing students to grow “future-ready” skills to develop the knowledge and experience to succeed in college and career pathways through K-12 education: teaching students to embrace challenges, collaborate, innovate, communicate, contribute, and respond. CTEC helps support these goals by providing the curriculum and setting for students to develop these skills in a professional setting that they can use to gain experience for their future careers.
Starting pathways to careers can seem overwhelming for students as they transition from their high school classes to career-focused pathways that require time management and learning skills that involve being adaptable to a hectic schedule and a professional environment.
Eve Sebastian from Business In Management 2 (BIM 2) walked through her schedule and managed to keep up with her workload at CTEC while simultaneously working on her schoolwork and extracurricular activities to work towards a career in HR.
“It’s hard because Microsoft Office isn’t something you can get on your school Chromebook or your computer at home. So I usually have to do what I’ve got to do, work during lunch and during class to get my work done,” said Sebastian.
Learning skills such as communication and data analysis are highly advantageous in the job market, so students get the opportunity to explore pathways in careers related to fields they’re interested in to hone the abilities they will need in the future.
Having the ability to work in a professional environment starting from high school helps shape students’ work ethic and ability to work with others in a collaborative environment. In CTEC’s Mock Trial class, students work together to play roles as jury, attorney, and witness in a friendly environment in which everyone is friends and it is chill to work on cases and spend time together despite the stress that comes with Mock Trial.
For some people, assuming a specific role can be easier based on how their personality fits best. For example, being a witness requires the ability to embody a character authentically and accurately to the point that they absorb the story as if it was their own. Being an attorney requires being persistent in getting a perspective from the witness and proving the facts. Finally, being part of the jury team requires being able to use critical thinking and decision making to objectively analyze the witnesses’ testimonies and the attorney’s point of view to converse and make the trial decision at the end.
Senior Charlie Paterson from Wakeland High School started off with Survey of Government for a general course of law and then went through Political Science and Court Science before finally stepping into the court of the Mock Trial classroom. Learning how the court works and the rules behind each role has helped him gain a deeper understanding of court cases and have more fun conducting them in class, transitioning from famous to imaginary cases.
“I really like the witness aspect. I know a lot of people don’t like it, because you have to play the character. You have to be the person. You have to study their statement because if you get a question wrong you get impeached…It’s fun. You get to play someone you’re not…with a theatrical aspect, but with attorneys it’s so firm on what you’re doing, you have to fight for your victory,” Paterson said. “Being on a jury is pretty fun. You’re given a packet. You write down all the things that happened, witnesses, pros and cons, how the opening and closing statements went…, and at the end you as the jury members all converse and decide who wins the case.”
Paterson believes that starting out he was pretty weak at public speaking, but going through the CTEC courses and Mock Trial helped him gain confidence in his communication and being able to speak in front of an audience both in and out of the classroom.
“It really improves your social and, most importantly, your communication skills because nobody wants… to deliver an opening statement if they’re shy at speaking, but it really changes it when you’re up there…you have to learn how to not be a nervous speaker, how not to have nervous actions…just being a good public speaker- that definitely helps you in your daily life,” said Paterson.
Internetworking 1 and Information Technology Practicum Teacher Kim Biggerstaff gave key insights into how students are gravitating towards Information Technology (IT) and, specifically, computer science courses to learn about how to use information technology and infrastructure to gain knowledge in technological fields such as cybersecurity. After students take the course, they can enroll in Practicum to gain real world experience working with projects and experiences in the field.
“A lot of my students go to pathways after the class that allow them to gain more experience in computer science and technology,” Biggerstaff said. “I just had a former student contact me to tell me he got a director position that raised his salary from $9,000 to $250,000.”
As the job market rapidly evolves, learning skills that can be applicable to the workforce and in real life can help students that are still figuring out what they want to do in the future. Especially as trends such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning gain popularity, it’s important for students to have the necessary skills to adapt to fields that require skills such as research and online multimedia skills.
Overall, CTEC courses allow students to gain relevant skills and experience that translate into a rapidly evolving job market with many job opportunities requiring highly advanced skills and adaptability to become more future ready.
