Delaware Tech partners on career and tech education for high school students

Recently, Gov. Jack Markell announced grant funding to 15 high schools to support Delaware students as part of the Pathways to Prosperity initiative. This program creates partnerships with the Department of Education, employers, colleges and universities, and school districts to prepare high school students for careers that offer good job opportunities now and for the future.

As part of this initiative, Delaware Tech is partnering with local high schools to offer career pathways in manufacturing, culinary arts and hospitality management, computer science and engineering. In addition, the college is currently creating new pathways in allied health, education and business.

“Delaware Tech is proud to be a partner in the governor’s Pathways to Prosperity initiative,” said Dr. Mark Brainard, president of Delaware Tech. “The work that we have accomplished this year in strengthening career and technical pathways is a game changer for Delaware high school students. These pathways provide students the opportunity to finish high school with real-world experience, college credits, and industry credentials that provide a jump start to their future careers in high-demand fields.”

These career and technical education pathways not only allow students to earn nationally recognized industry credentials in high school, but also accelerate students’ progress toward earning college degrees. The CTE pathways can be completed in conjunction with dual enrollment in college courses such as math and English, giving high school students even more opportunities to earn college credits that will apply to their future majors, saving time and money toward college degrees.

Delaware Tech’s newest CTE pathways continue the work of the college and DOE in developing the High School Manufacturing Program. This program was created in direct response to Markell’s Accelerated Career Pathways initiative, designed to create a pipeline of trained individuals to meet the growing demand for manufacturing workers in Delaware. The two-year manufacturing program was piloted in fall 2014 and provides high school students with 630 hours of instruction at Delaware Tech during their junior and senior years. In partnership with the Delaware Manufacturing Association and local employers, the students also participate in a 200-hour summer work experience in manufacturing.

Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Kim Joyce, who serves on the state’s CTE guiding coalition, says, “This is an exciting time for education in Delaware. I’m proud of our work with DOE, the school districts and local employers to collectively utilize our resources to provide applied education for our high school students. We are responding to the needs of our future workforce and ensuring that our high school graduates are college and career ready.”