High School Students Introduced to Career Education during CTE Showcase Day
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About 380 students from nine Anaheim Union high schools visited Fullerton College in December for CTE Showcase Day. The inaugural CTE Showcase Day provided students with the opportunity to engage in career technical education programs with hands-on demonstrations and presentations with career-experts and instructors.
Fullerton College is a proven regional leader in this area of higher education. Among its 140 career education programs, Fullerton College enrolled the most career education students in Orange County in 2017-2018. The CTE Showcase Day gave high school students insight into these robust programs.
“CTE Showcase Day provided career exploration opportunities, which is something high school students need; they need to know what we offer in terms of all of the options available to them including our career and technical programs,” said Director of Career and Technical Education Strategic Recruitment & Outreach Martha Payán-Hernández.
High school students each visited three of 16 programs featured throughout the day including Machine Technology, Printing Technology, Pilates, Theatre Arts Journalism, Interior Design, and Welding, among others. They arrived excited to learn more about careers that they may want to pursue. For many of them, it was their first time seeing the Fullerton College campus.
Gilbert High School senior Nathanael Conriquez said he plans to pursue a career in architecture and was excited to meet the instructor and learn more about the program at Fullerton College.
“I’ve only taken engineering classes which have centered me towards architecture,” he said. “I want to come here and transfer to CSUF and get an architectural engineering bachelor’s degree.”
“I am so excited that this is happening because it’s been a long time coming,” said Pilates Professor Alix Plum. “We’ve had Pilates at Fullerton College for nine years but not many students know about it. It’s a great way to get the word out about our programs.”
Students participated in breathing exercises during the Pilates showcase while others got a chance to watch theatre arts students sing, work sound design, and demonstrate two combat sequences during a demonstration. Students also toured the costume design room, where Fashion Department students get hands-on instruction, and some students participated in a demonstration of how drones are used in the Journalism program. In the Digital Arts program, students also had the opportunity to observe Fullerton College students drawing and sketching a live animal on display.
“The support from instructors, staff, and volunteers made the event incredibly successful,” said Payan-Hernandez. “It was a collective effort of support because we want students to be fully aware of all of the options available to them as they are trying to decide which career path to take.”
CTE Showcase Day featured the following programs:
- Architecture
- Art & Digital Arts
- Automotive Technology
- Biotechnology
- Construction
- Cosmetology
- Fashion Design and Merchandising
- Interior Design
- Journalism & Drone Technology
- Machine Technology
- Music Theatre
- Photography
- Physical Education
- Printing Technology
- Theatre Arts
- Welding Technology
For more information on any of these programs or to learn more about Fullerton College Career and Technical Education visit https://cte.fullcoll.edu
