KINGMAN — The Kingman Unified School District has held a parent meeting at district offices to spread information about the Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offered free to high school students. The courses are sponsored by Western Arizona Vocational Education (WAVE) through community colleges in Mohave and LaPaz Counties.
These tax payer and industry financed programs offer multi-year curriculums that combine academic knowledge with technical and occupational skills, preparing students for specific careers. Careers that they might step into upon high school graduation or shortly thereafter. WAVE Support Coordinator Tonia Flanagan explains.
“What we do is to focus on career and technical education for students by providing opportunities for them in our communities. We’re always looking for new programs and what the kids want and what the community needs.”
All of this is tax-payer supported, therefore free to the student that follows through with their selected program. The vocational education swing is a concentrated effort away from prior years when the almost exclusive emphasis was college prep.
Ms. Flanagan continued, “It’s an interesting change and we’re very excited about it. We listened to industry partners. That’s the kind of the cool thing with WAVE, is we work with school districts, students, industry partners, the community colleges, and businesses. So, it provides us a wide opportunity to kind of look through the lens of those different things to see what students in our communities need.”
A small but very interested group of parents turned out for the informational meeting. Attendee James Miller talks about his reason for being at the meeting, “My son is a Lee Williams student and we are starting to explore different career opportunities. He’s a hands-on kind of a guy so these programs would give him a head start towards a career. We’ve heard from his friends that have been through the program, so it’s a chance to learn a career while he’s still in high school.”
School guidance counselors and district CTE representatives presented material on the wide-ranging vocational programs that are available. These opportunities may also be used by home schooled children.
Additional information is available by contacting the KUSD CTE Coordinator Lindsey Wolsey or calling the local WAVE office at 928-418-0406.
