Buckeye Union High School District's Career and Technical Education program was ranked "Best in the West" by WESTMARC for Excellence in Education and Workforce Development.
"The award, presented by WESTMARC, highlights BUHSD CTE’s crucial role in workforce development and educational excellence," reads a BUHSD press release. "Selected from a pool of seven notable nominees, this recognition underscores BUHSD’s commitment to preparing students for a competitive workforce and higher education."
The program won against Workforce2You, ASU West Valley Campus, City of Buckeye, Goodyear Police Department's School Resource Officer Unit, Grand Canyon University and West-MEC. The award is shared between CTE educators district wide and the trophy itself will roam to each classroom for a day.
The state ranks career readiness for students on two-point system: Up to two points for career and up to two points for college. A student is considered career ready if they receive one career point, said the district's CTE Director Mike Neu.
Last year, 86.7% of BUHSD graduates earned at least one point, 68.5% earned at least 1.5 points and 54.9% earned the maximum of 2 career points.
"Teachers just take ownership and strive for excellence," said Neu. "That's truly what it's about and we try to just offer as much as we can to kids because we know how important it is in high school when it's free."
BUHSD's CTE program provides opportunities in 20 career areas: Agriscience FFA, Airforce JROTC, automotive technologies, carpentry, coding, culinary arts, early childhood, education professions, engineering, film and TV, graphic design, law and public safety, medical assisting, social media business, sports medicine, technical theater, welding, fire service, computer services and digital photography.
"Because we have so many offerings on our own home campuses, the majority of our students will take at least one CTE course or even become a completer in that course where they take it for two years," District Superintendent Dr. Steve Bebee said. "Those who take them are highly successful academically and tend to be highly successful post-school, as well."
The district is able to offer so many opportunities because of its four-by-four block schedule which allows for students to take 16 electives rather than the usual eight. Many try four or five clusters during their high school career, said Neu, but because of the block schedule they could explore even more.
Students engaging in the program may go to college, go straight into the workforce or become entrepreneurs Bebee said. For those going directly into the workforce, it provides a quicker route to career match and CTE students are sought by local companies by providing both technical and soft skills.
"What we find is that the things they are taught in CTE are exactly what employers are looking for in employees when they are hiring," Bebee said. "We truly set up our kids up for success in this program. They come out of the program truly ready to interview and be employed in their community."
"What's really cool about CTE is we have so many different instructors who are bringing real work experience into the classroom and sharing it with their kids," Bebee said. "They're getting that information first-hand; knowledge from people who have been in the industry and done these things for years."
