21st Century Learning at The Career Academy

CTE programs are built for students to learn their coursework by applying their knowledge to real-world scenarios, prepping them for future education or careers. The Career Academy (TCA) in Lincoln, Nebraska is an exemplary model for this.

A collaborative effort between Southeast Community College and the Lincoln Public School District,  high school juniors and seniors are invited to attend the academy for two hours each day during the regular school year, participating in high school and dual-credit courses through 16 different career pathways, while taking the rest of their classes at their “home” high school. Upon graduation, students are better-prepared to enter the workforce, work towards a certificate in their chosen field, or continue on to college – taking their career course credits with them.

Thanks to an anonymous gift from a generous donor, Southeast Community College purchased the VariQuest suite of tools for TCA and through various activities, they’ve been able to fill the walls of classrooms and support various career pathways; preparing students for whatever endeavor their future holds….

• Participating students in an organization called Educators Rising had a requirement last year to write and illustrate their own children’s book. The instructor took their completed work, scanned it and printed each page as a mini-size poster from the VariQuest Perfecta® 2400. From there the posters were bound into a book, and student authors were given the opportunity to present their books at a local bookstore, leading their children’s story hour. In addition, the books were entered into an annual competition and 4 of the books placed at the state level, with 1 placing at the national level.

• The Early Childhood students participated in an in-depth study on the artistic style of Eric Carle. They painted tissue paper, then laminated it on the VariQuest Cold Laminator 2510, and with the help of the Cutout Maker 1800, they cut it into letters and decorated their classroom walls with “Carle Quotes.”

• The Business Administration Pathway has an ongoing project each semester, in cooperation with Junior Achievement (JA), where students are tasked with setting up a student-run business. In the spring of 2016, one of the student-run companies used the VariQuest Awards Maker 400 to create customized stickers to adhere to water bottles they successfully sold at cheerleading and other athletic events, and even created a commercial about their business, and entered it into a national competition!

“The Career Academy loves the opportunities the VariQuest Tools have made possible for our classrooms and student endeavors. We look forward to them sparking even more creativity in the years to come!” – Nicole Barrett, Business Administration Pathway Instructor at TCA

Read more about other projects The Career Academy has done to promote career pathway learning, or contact us today for information on how the VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Tools could benefit a CTE program in your school!