On any given school day, the Career and Technical Education Center at Heintz (CTECH) gathers Rochester Public Schools (RPS) students from around the Rochester area and narrows the focus on their post-high school graduation plans. Take a walk through the CTECH halls and see a career that's available to any RPS student.
Veterinary Studies, which falls under the agriculture pathway, introduces students to the veterinary field through hands-on laboratory work, student-centered research, and job shadow opportunities.
Certified Nursing, offered under the health science pathway, gets students into the environment of professional hospitals. Upon completion of this course, students are eligible to take the Certification Exam for Nursing Assistant and Home Health Aid.
In Robotics, offered under the engineering pathway, students build and program small robots and learn the essentials of gears, mechanical advantage, pneumatics, programming, and sensors.
Culinary Studies, offered under the hospitality pathway, gives students the opportunity to gain industry-standard culinary skills while working in the commercial kitchen lab.
The Manufacturing pathway includes welding and machine technology. Students work with professional tools to construct practical structures such as hinges, chains, and frames—and complete creative projects such as sculpting.
Other pathways offered at CTECH are Teaching as a Profession, Construction, and Computer Science and Information Technology.
In close proximity to CTECH, P-TECH is an RPS program that was initiated in partnership with IBM and Mayo Clinic. Operating on the Rochester Community and Technical College campus, P-TECH students can enroll in one of two pathways: Nursing and Information Technology. Upon enrolling in P-TECH in the ninth grade, completion of the program not only results in a high school diploma, but also either a diploma in practical nursing (Nursing pathway), or an Associate of Applied Science in Information Technology (IT pathway). Expect more on P-TECH later in November's Career Development Month.
CTECH and P-TECH would both have secured funding for ten years through the Ignite Student Learning Referendum.