The Willoughby-Eastlake City School District has begun the transition to a comprehensive Career Technical Education model, moving to in-district, hands-on career pathways for students. The district currently operates the Northern Career Institute at Willoughby and Eastlake campuses, offering special ized programs in high-demand fields such as welding, auto technology and cosmetology. The transition is saving costs, but also an opportunity for students unlike any opportunity they’ve had in the past, said Superintendent Patrick Ward. “This year, in July, we’ll have completed the process of finally getting our IRN number (Information Retrieval Number for Ohio schools),” he said. “The arrow points to us and says, ‘We are this and it’s real in the eyes of Ohio.” The district recently completed sophomore registration for next year. “We don’t know which programs they’re going to get into or how it’s all going to break, but between two high schools, we have 319 applications for career technical education,” Ward said. “That is remarkable. Previously, only a fraction of those students would get access to those programs. Now, we know this is only half of it because the junior programming will be next year and we’re facing the senior programming the year after.” Ward said in addition to the robust programming plans, the district plans to continue the WE Build program, a hands-on, one-year career-technical initiative for high school students, operating at both North and South campuses. The program provides training in construction, manufacturing, carpentry and masonry, connecting students with industry professionals and local unions for real-world experience. Cybersecurity courses will also be offered next year as students continue to navigate the world with increasing demands technology places on them daily, Ward said. Capstone experiences will also continue to be offered for students. “When you talk about value and doing something that no other district’s doing, the capstone leverages AI technology to allow our students unlimited access to exploring career pathways and areas of interest to them,” Ward said. “The capstones allow for us the flexibility to allow students to leverage technology and career path exploration of their own.” Last year, the Willoughby-Eastlake School Board approved having the district begin its own CTE programming. The district has been a part of the Excel TECC Consortium and has since had plans to transition away from that to house all programs in the district. “One of the single highest frequency pieces of feedback the district has been getting is on the urgency of workforce development and of getting students exposed to careers sooner, as well as getting them connected to that pipeline earlier than 11th grade,” Ward said. “This community has said over and over again that workforce development is something that is a priority for us,” he said. “Our families in Willoughby-Eastlake also reiterated to us that the earlier we expose kids to careers, no matter whether they’re going to college or right into some sort of technical field, the better for our students.” ...read more read less