Students highlight hands-on CTE learning: greenhouse, horticulture and nursing pathways

Two students addressed the board about their career and technical education experiences. Seventh-grader Grayson White said he is enrolled in an 'introduction to agri science' course at UK Middle School and described outdoor gardening and greenhouse work as the most useful parts of the class.

High-school student McKenna Williams described two semesters of horticulture and greenhouse management and participation in a regional nursing pathway course. "In these courses I learned how to grow food, grow plants, how to manage a greenhouse correctly," she said. McKenna added that, after completing more than 100 hours of clinical work in her nursing pathway, she will be eligible to take a CNA exam in the next month.

Board members asked whether McKenna’s credits transfer to further nursing education; McKenna said that nursing-care and terminology credits transfer to Rappahannock Community College but that the medication-aide unit is counted as high-school credit only. Board members and staff praised the students and noted CTE teachers and regional partners as key to those pathways.

The board acknowledged the student presenters and said the district will continue to pursue dual-enrollment and pathway expansions to strengthen pipelines from middle-school exposure to high-school completion and postsecondary credit.