Students taking courses in CTE can see lifelong benefits

It’s only February, but students are already discussing decisions about what they will be doing next fall like, “What classes should I take?” and “What major should I pursue in college?”

These are really important questions but answered without their connection to a potential career destination, the answers can lead to wasted time, money and opportunity.

High-school students have options to start to build their own “bridges” between what they learn in school today and how they could use it tomorrow. Those options happen in Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes available at every high school in our county.

Most CTE courses begin around 11^th grade, but students as young as middle school can make course choices that set them up for success in these classes later.

CTE courses expose students to real-world, hands-on instruction in a variety of 21^st century career fields, including information technology, engineering, aerospace, health care, skilled trades (like CAD Design, welding, etc.), and education, as some examples.

CTE courses set students up for higher-wage, high-growth careers in industries that are vital to our local economy. For example, some of the highest-value occupations in our county, which means careers that pay more than $35,000 and are projected to grow, are general and operations managers, registered nurses, teachers, business operations specialists, accountants and auditors, social and human services staff and electricians.

Additionally, the Borderplex Alliance is looking at the future of work for careers in our region, and technology is going to bring big shifts in how manufacturing, aerospace, biosciences and other industries change the qualifications needed for those in high-value, growing careers.

Our students can gain exposure to these and other careers just by participating in CTE courses and programs in high school, many of which include college-level Dual Credit courses that give them a jump start on earning a related college credential or degree.

But these courses are far more important than that … They set students up for being more engaged with their education in those latter years of high school, because they are able to see the connections between what they learn and what they can later earn. Students who take CTE courses graduate at higher rates than those outside of CTE at well over 90 percent. Studies in other states also showed that CTE students experienced higher GPA’s than non-CTE students and greater persistence into college and college graduation. Students who graduate high school having secured a skills-related credential are also positioned to out-earn their peers who finished high school without those credentials. Whether students plan to continue their education into college or go straight into the workforce, the power to earn more right away sets them up for success for the long term.

And, it’s important to note that CTE isn’t just for high-school students. It’s for anyone who wants to increase their earning power. Doña Ana Community College has high-tech programs in a host of high-value career fields, like cybersecurity, aerospace, computer numerical control operators for manufacturing, commercial drivers licenses for truck drivers and far more.

If you want to learn more about Career and Technical Education, and which pathways have the most potential in our region, visit Bridge2Careers.org. Click on the Career Pathways tab to explore different CTE programs and how they relate to careers in our county. You can also learn which college credentials and degrees are most in demand by our top employers.

From New Mexico’s perspective, we are fortunate to have some of the best CTE programs in the state here in our county. When our students take advantage of these amazing opportunities, they can literally be life-changing!

We look forward to seeing more and more of our students find their career pathways to some of the best jobs in New Mexico … here!

Tracey Bryan is president/CEO of The Bridge of Southern New Mexico. She can be reached at TraceyBryan@thebridgeofsnm.org