Students at Brevard Public Schools have a wide variety of career and technical education programs to choose from. “We have 52 unique career and technical education programs in Brevard Public Schools and many of them are found at multiple locations,” said Rachel Rutledge, the director of CTE with BPS. “CTE is a hands-on approach to learning that reinforces academic knowledge, as well as teaches technical and employability skills.” CTE is Preparation for Careers.
The programs that are offered vary by school, with each offering an array of programs. For example, Viera High School offers courses in carpentry, dental aide, digital media/multi-media design, early childhood education, exercise science, finance, nutrition and food science, television production technology and web application development and programming.
Programs
Programs offered at other schools include applied robotics, digital design, journalism and multimedia, public safety communication/911 and welding technology fundamentals, according to a list of programs on the BPS website from the 2024-2025 School Year. High school students interested in CTE have the opportunity to be part-time or transfer students outside of their area if it is not offered at their designated school.
“Let’s take for example, carpentry,” Rutledge said. “If carpentry’s not available at their zone school, students can choice into Viera or, if transportation is an issue, they could participate in another hands-on program at their local school,” Rutledge said. “If they were at Rockledge, they could take automotive. If they were at Cocoa, they could take construction.”
Courses are available to all high school students.
“Our high school programs are set up where students could take classes every year during their high school experience,”
Rutledge said. “If they were in the criminal justice program, they could take Criminal Justice I, first year, (Criminal Justice) II-III, sophomore/junior year and then take their 9-1-1/dispatcher course as a senior.”
Rutledge said exploratory programs are available at each middle school throughout the district.
“Students can learn about coding and pre-engineering, aerospace, robotics, entrepreneurship and culinary (arts) that can help them start to make some decisions about what they’d like to study when they get to high school,” Rutledge said.
Rutledge indicated that “it’s safe to say that over 20,000 students in our middle and high schools take advantage of CTE courses and programs.” She also added that elementary schools all have STEM teachers.
“They’re getting some very early exposure to career pathways at that level as well,” Rutledge said.
CTE has been around for a long time.
“It’s not the old facilities that are dark and dingy of the past,” Rutledge said. “They’re much cleaner and brighter and more technology-driven and they’re preparing students for college and careers. A lot of the students in our programs want to pursue a post-secondary education. Some of them don’t. Others want to go right to work. Some want to do a certificate or apprenticeship. Others want to go into a bachelor’s degree program. All those kids are in the classes learning a skill that’s going to help them move to their next step. Whatever that is.”
Rutledge also stated that she foresees greater expansion of CTE programs in the district in the future.
“I see us making more of a focus toward aerospace, aviation and IT (information technology) to best meet our workforce needs here in the community,” she said. “Also, health care and construction are priority sectors as well.”
Source:
