By PAMELA GRANT Cove Leader-Press Copperas Cove High School offers students a variety of career-oriented classes designed to help students get a head start on their future. Last Wednesday and Thursday, junior high school students had the opportunity to c

By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press

Copperas Cove High School offers students a variety of career-oriented classes designed to help students get a head start on their future.
Last Wednesday and Thursday, junior high school students had the opportunity to come to CCHS to explore five different career areas in order to help them choose which classes they’d like to take once they begin high school. 
The students rotated through five CTE (Career and Technical Education) classes which were chosen at random to give students a look at classes they may not have even considered otherwise. The students spent 25 minutes in each class.
“We have them go through some of the classes they might take in order to give them a better idea of what they might be interested in,” said Lacy Freeman, DoDEA Grant Project Director. “There’s five different endorsement areas offered by the state of Texas. Copperas Cove High School offers all five.”
The five areas include arts and humanities, business and industry, public services, multidisciplinary studies, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). 
“CTE is really important for them because this is where they understand why they are studying math, why they are studying language arts. All of a sudden it has a purpose,” said Freeman. “So we see kids who before were struggling academically, and they get into these CTE courses and all of a sudden they are like ‘Oh, there’s a reason I’m doing this.’ And you just see them blossom.”
Classes that the junior high students attended included hands-on activities in wood shop, health sciences, video game design, and more. For example, Cynthia Cooper, a forensic science teacher, taught students how to finger print each other as well as how to interpret those prints.
After the completion of many of the CTE courses, students can earn certifications that will allow them to enter the workforce straight out of high school. The experience also gives them a leg up should they decide to pursue the area further in college.
“They actually go out and look at the vet clinics. I’ve seen them in surgery rooms, cleaning kennels, dividing out medications…They have a lot of fun doing it,” said Stephanie Hedrick, Ag Science instructor, about the students in her classes. “I think it’s great because they go ahead and get firsthand experience in class and so when they go out to the real world, or when I send them to the clinics, they already have most of the experience…I had two seniors last year that got hired at the clinic they worked at after they graduated.”
Gloria Marmon, one of the junior high students exploring the various classes on Thursday, said that she really liked checking out the classes. The class on video game designing was her favorite.
“I think it’s really nice,” said Marmon. “I think it will be a good opportunity.”