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Career Tech Program at Hilltonia Adds Two New Classes
September 15, 2022 -- At Hilltonia Middle School, Wayne Sexton is learning to pursue his passions. During the first part of the day, he has his eyes on his textbooks. But once his final class period starts, he straps on his safety goggles and grabs a rubber mallet for a different kind of learning.
The Hilltonia Middle School 6th grader was part of a group of students working with their teacher, Alex Traxler, to make a bookshelf.
“My dad uses hand tools, and I wanted to learn how to help him,” Sexton explained.
Sexton was offered the opportunity when he started his middle school career at Hilltonia. Now, he works with Traxler and the other students in his class to learn how to safely use tools and build different items.
“One of the Hilltonia teachers needed a bookshelf, so we’re building one for her,” he said. “It’s really exciting.”
For the past two and a half years, Traxler has taught construction and industrial technology at Hilltonia, a class he said is popular with students.
“This class is relatable to students because it’s the real world. This is what they see; this is what some of their parents are doing,” he said.
Traxler’s class is part of Hilltonia’s Career-Technical Education (CTE) program put in motion by Principal Dr. Joyce Albright. She wants to grow CCS’ career technology curriculum for middle school students.
“We need to push CTE with the same rigor we push college prep. Many of my students have an interest in skilled trade fields, and this gives them a head start for exploring those fields,” she said.
Last year, Traxler had more students interested in taking his class than he could accommodate. Seeing the popularity, Hilltonia added to its CTE curriculum. This year, they’re offering two new classes to students: small engine repair and family and consumer science. Dr. Albright said hands-on courses like these are popular with students, and she wanted to give them options to fit their interests.
“Our students love the CTE classes and want to take more,” she said. “Last year, we only had one CTE class, and we were not able to schedule everyone into the class that wanted it. This year, we have three options, and the students continue to ask for more opportunities.”
Phil Maxwell teaches the small engine repair classes. His ultimate goal for his students is to teach them how to problem solve. One of his long-term plans involves intentionally creating an error within an engine so it will not function. Then, he wants to give it to the students to diagnose.
“That’s the plan for the students, to take something that’s broken and fix it,” Maxwell said. “It’s critical thinking. It will help them not only with their skills using a wrench and tuning something up but with problem solving.”
Across the hall, family and consumer science teacher Crystal McMillan is showing students everything from food safety to gardening skills. She said the students are excited to learn about cooking in particular, but she’s teaching them about more than just kitchen prep.
“We do finance and economics,” McMillan explained. “I think it’s important to help them with self-management and time-management skills. We try to keep it relevant for what they need in life going forward.”
One of the benefits of taking CTE classes in middle school is the foundation it gives students going into high school and beyond. Dr. Albright looks forward to the possibilities open to students in CTE classes once they leave Hilltonia.
“Classes like these provide them with the academic and technical skills needed for a variety of careers in demand. It gives them exploration into potential careers and builds self-awareness,” said Dr. Albright. “This will also create the pipeline to CTE in high school and might be the hook that gets a student to come to school each day.”
Currently, the CTE classes at Hilltonia are only for students. Still, eventually, Dr. Albright would like to open Hilltonia’s doors to parents and community members and allow them to learn about a trade too. She’s excited for CTE classes to grow not just at Hilltonia but also other middle schools across the District.