Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories about CareerPrep 2030, a Kent ISD initiative to expand offerings and boost student enrollment in career and technical education over the next five years.
BYLINE: Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
All districts — It started with the question of how Kent ISD could bring the best of career and technical education to all students.
The result was CareerPrep 2030, an ambitious county-wide initiative to double the number of students participating in CTE programs by 2030. This would bring total enrollment to some 10,000 students taking classes in areas such as health care, culinary arts, construction and engineering.
To meet that goal, Kent ISD is partnering with local districts and business leaders to enhance CTE offerings, strengthen work-based learning opportunities, and boost student engagement as students explore future career paths. Kent ISD is also working with districts to offer more of these programs at their schools, and plans to establish satellite tech centers in addition to the main Kent Career Tech Center campus.
The effort focuses on three strategic industries in high demand of skilled workers: advanced manufacturing, health sciences and technology. Under CareerPrep 2030, more students will be able to take classes they can’t now get into, said Ron Gorman, Kent ISD superintendent. He co-chairs the initiative along with Randy Thelen, president & CEO of The Right Place economic development group, and Chris Bardeggia, vice president of Steelcase.
“CTE programming is highly regarded,” Gorman said. “This is evidenced by over 1,500 students each year in our region who are unfortunately left on waiting lists and cannot enroll in engaging, rigorous CTE courses that will lead to credentials and college credits because classes are at capacity.
“We must expand programming for all students, and Kent ISD and our district leaders are committed to ensuring that any student who wants a CTE experience has that opportunity,” he added. “We have a lofty goal of doubling CTE offerings in Kent County by 2030, and I am confident we will do so.”
Growing Space for Growing Demand
Since the pandemic, enrollment requests for the Kent Career Tech Center have gone up about 40%, said Joe Lienesch, CTE director for Kent ISD and former Tech Center principal. About 61% of those requests end up on a wait list, underlining the need to increase programs.
In 2023, school, business and community leaders met to discuss how to connect students to potential careers, help grow the local business economy, and build a pipeline of local talent to help fill current and expected employment vacancies.
Throughout that summer, the leaders met and worked to define three CareerPrep 2030 strategies to help achieve those goals. This past spring, Kent ISD hosted a summit for educators to explore those strategies, namely:
- Expand CTE opportunities by partnering with area districts to offer CTE programs and/or CTE-like programs that provide elements of career and tech-ed training;
- Grow partnerships in work-based learning that provide interactions with employers or community professionals in real workplace settings, to foster in-depth, firsthand engagement;
- Increase engagement with students by helping them to start thinking about future careers at early stages, and connecting them to tools and resources that help them identify skills and interests that could lead to future careers.
“I think the whole initiative, whether you talk about strategy one, two or three, is making it easy for business and industry to partner with our schools,” said Sue Gardner, Kent ISD assistant superintendent of career and talent development, who leads the team working toward the CareerPrep 2030 goals.
“No matter which strategy it is, we’re trying to make that connection and we’re filling the talent gap, and this is helping our school districts focus on that talent gap.”
Further, enrolling in CTE courses can help students find their passion and improve their graduation rates, Gardner said.
Expanding Opportunities on a Local Level
To help support growth, Kent ISD has been looking to develop satellite centers for Tech Center classes, along with helping districts develop their own CTE programs. Currently, about half of Kent ISD’s 20 local districts offer CTE programs and 13 offer work-based learning opportunities.
Through this expansion, Kent ISD has increased its overall CTE enrollment from 4,200 in 2022 to more than 5,900 this school year, Lienesch said.
“(If a) local (district) creates seats for 30 kids and 10 of those kids might have been kids that came to the Tech Center before, 10 more spots are going to open (at the Tech Center) that would have been filled by those students,” Lienesch said. “Now 10 kids from somewhere else in the county can come to the Tech Center.
“This is why, even when the local districts make their own programs, not even the ones we’re facilitating, it opens more spots for kids across the county.”
The other benefit is that if a district has 30 students interested in participating in a local program, almost all will have the opportunity to participate, Lienesch said. If the district relies solely on the Tech Center, there’s a chance their students may not get those opportunities because the Tech Center is full, he said.
‘We must expand programming for all students, and Kent ISD and our district leaders are committed to ensuring that any student who wants a CTE experience has that opportunity.’
— Ron Gorman, Kent ISD superintendent
Superintendents and their districts can pursue the avenue they want, whether it’s CTE, work-based learning, student engagement, a combination of the three or all of them, said Ryan Graham, Kent ISD director of workforce development. The Career and Talent Development team is available to help with the systems and process to make those programs happen, Graham said.
Several area districts have already embraced CareerPrep 2030. For example, last year Wyoming Public Schools launched an Applied Anatomy and Physiology class, opening opportunities in the health-care field. This year, Northview is hosting two pilot Tech Center programs, Health Care Foundations and IT Fundamentals. Grandville Public Schools is offering a teacher academy, and Godwin Heights has expanded its work-based learning program.
Although the question of building CTE for all was raised just two years ago, Gardner said it’s been exciting to witness the positive response, particularly from the superintendents. That has greatly energized her team’s commitment and enthusiasm, she said.
“When I saw these superintendents were excited about the opportunity to do this for their students, I thought, ‘You know what? If they think we can do it, we can do it.’”
Sparking Engagement, Boosting Graduation
Graduation rates for students taking CTE courses are higher on average than those of the general student population.
– According to Michigan’s Career and Technical Education Information System (CTEIS), for the 2022-2023 school year, students who participated in CTE programs had a graduation rate of 95.95%.
– By comparison, the Michigan Department of Education reported that the state’s average graduation rate for that same school year was 81.77%.
– Graduation rates for Kent ISD students in CTE programs also exceeded the state average in 2022-23, with CTEIS reporting 96.36% of students taking those courses graduating.
Read more from Kent ISD:
• Partnership pairs high-schoolers with scientists for real-world research
• New CNA course offers hands-on look at health care career
