We have a few technical centers up here that high school students can elect to take courses with and get their hands on, including a short ‘internship’ during the senior year. Our Building Trades classes work on building houses that get sold off to the community to put on their own lots, even.

I took the Electronics class for my two years, grabbing the basics of digital and analog electronics. My internship slightly twisted into working more IT-related work, but hey — it was a good time and I learned some actually useful skills I still use today when I need to cable and wire stuff up, or build battery powered shenanigans. I’d say it was a lot more useful than the alternative of taking high-level Spanish classes and filler classes like Public Speaking.

It’s a nice refreshing pace to see investment and interest in CTE rising and I’m here for it.

Bonus - students also get to be introduced to trade labor as well. I recall being brought in with the Building Trades folks to meet the IBEW Local and learn about becoming a journeyman electrician as well as the various benefits of collective bargaining.