McMichael Middle School students hear presentation at CTE Showcase

McMichael Middle School eighth-graders are getting a close-up look at the Career & Technical Education programs at Nacogdoches High School.

The Class of 2027 were bused in groups to the high school Tuesday (a second round of students will attend Thursday) to see the more than 15 CTE programs they can take advantage of as freshmen beginning next year.

And the middle schoolers are hearing from those who know it best… NHS students themselves.

“We’re going to talk about CTE programs and try to get them involved and in their right pathway,” said Cody Claude, a senior at NHS and president this year of Nac FFA.

Cody’s interest in animal science courses at NHS grew into plans to be an ag teacher, something he hopes to do here in Nacogdoches. “I just felt this class really prepared me to go into the agriculture field and have the knowledge I need to have to go to college and come back and teach.”

The CTE 8th-grade Showcase (on Jan. 24 and Jan. 26) lets middle schoolers who will be attending NHS next year visit the Malcolm Rector Center for Advanced Careers and Innovation (located on Maroney Drive behind the high school campus) and tour a Program Fair where tables are manned by NHS students.

Exploration of CTE offerings at the high school is part of the process for eighth-graders to begin choosing classes in their freshman year draws near.

“We do the CTE exploration fair so the students can start making informed decisions about the CTE programs they are going to choose for next year,” said Coy van Valkenburgh, Director of Career & Technical Education for NISD. “It’s one thing for us to talk about it but for them to actually see it and come in and talk with students who are currently in it makes a huge difference.”

In the evenings of Jan. 24 and Jan. 26 parents can see the CTE showcase themselves at the Malcolm Rector Center before beginning the registration process that night.