Lafayette, LA, Prepares Students for Career Success
The Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS) equips students with the skills, knowledge and experiences necessary to obtain and succeed in a career in Lafayette, LA. By offering specialized, theme-driven Magnet Academies, dual enrollment opportunities, and career and technical education (CTE) training, students are introduced to career pathways that range from STEM fields to technical trades and beyond.
Lafayette, LA, Students Explore Career Paths
The school system’s David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy, for example, focuses its curriculum on three major career pathways – biomedical sciences, computing and pre-engineering.
“In the biomedical sciences track, students are introduced to human body systems, medical interventions and biomedical innovations,” says Christopher Broussard, director of career and technical education and Lafayette Magnet Academies for LPSS. “They can also earn their EMR and EMT licenses as well as other industry-based credentials.”
To meet the workforce needs of the region, Broussard says the school system’s magnet academies cover a wide range of career pathways, from health care and business information to technology and art. He says his team regularly meets with industry leaders in the Lafayette, LA, area to ensure students are learning the career skills those businesses need.
“We work with our local workforce groups to ensure that the courses we’re offering meet the demand in our area. For example, a big market for our students is health care. If a student wants to be in the health care field – say a CNA (certified nursing assistant) or RN (registered nurse), they’ll start with courses such as intro to health occupations and medical technology, leading up to that CNA class or EMR-EMT class,” Broussard says. “We’re one of the rungs on that career ladder to get them where they need to be.”
Lafayette, LA, Students Learn Hard and Soft Skills
Broussard says all high school students can choose a pathway that leads to either a TOPS Tech or a TOPS University Diploma. TOPS stands for Taylor Opportunity Program for Students and is a merit-based scholarship program for Louisiana residents who attend Louisiana public colleges, universities or technical schools. Students who pursue a technical diploma can earn credentials that lead to college or a local career. While all the school district’s high schools offer CTE courses in a variety of career pathways, the W.D. & Mary Baker Smith Career Center serves as a training hub for areas such as culinary arts, health care, auto technology and advanced manufacturing.
“Machining computer/integrated manufacturing is a program that has the potential to be an economic driver for our community,” says Holly Boffy, principal of W.D. & Mary Baker Smith Career Center. “Lafayette is recruiting manufacturers to our community, and we are trying to prepare students while they’re still in high school for what can be incredible jobs and futures. They may end up continuing their education, but they may go straight into the workforce and work for a manufacturer, which they can do with a high school diploma and some training, and they get that training with us.”
Boffy says students at the Career Center also learn critical soft skills that they can take to whatever profession they choose.
“We’ve tried to match our expectations of them at school with the expectations they’ll have outside,” Boffy says. “We expect them to show teamwork, have ethics, be problem solvers, manage their time well and have a professional attitude, meaning graciously accepting criticism, taking responsibility for their actions and staying calm and clearheaded under stress. These are skills that if anybody incorporates them in their job, they’ll be a lot more successful.”
Lafayette, LA, Students Have Access to Dual Enrollment Options
The school system also partners with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and South Louisiana Community College (SoLAcc) to give Lafayette, LA, students a head start to college and careers. Through a dual-enrollment program called College Reach Out Program (CROP), SoLAcc hosts the Early College Academy on campus, which allows students to simultaneously earn an associate degree and high school diploma. The college has also designed career and technical academies for high school students that enable them to graduate with a technical degree and go straight into the workforce.
“We are building a customized curriculum in the workforce space that directly meets those parishes’ profiles and their needs,” says Vincent June, chancellor of SoLAcc. “When we are developing a culinary program or a welding program, for example, the objective is to make sure that students are not only picking up the requisites that are necessary for that credential, but that we are also building in apprenticeship models for those programs.”
June says an emphasis on high school students – and younger – is critical to maintaining a pipeline of talent to in-demand jobs.
“We’ve experienced a national shortage in several different areas, including nurses and medical assistants, respiratory techs and pharmacy techs. Then with a shift in online purchasing and buying, we show a need for CDL drivers. Now, the focus is – beginning with K-12 – exposing students and their parents to careers that lend themselves to a certificate or associate degree,” he says.
This article is sponsored by the Lafayette Convention & Visitors Commission, Lafayette Economic Development Authority and One Acadiana.