Career and Technical Education Funding Approved

Congress has evidently extended funding for vocational education for a few more years. Article here. This will be good news for Wawasee vocational students since enrollment in our Wawasee Career and Technical programs is at an all-time high despite the lowest total student enrollment in at least 10 years. Classes like Cosmetology are always full, while others like Building and Trades and Automotive may fluctuate a little more.

Newer classes like Project Lead the Way try to attract college-bound engineering students into classes with some "hands-on" experiences. Wawasee faculty members, Mr. McAdams and Mr. Coblentz have been attending extensive training classes this summer in order to implement these classes that try to attract more college-bound students to vocational classes.

In fact, there will be a new diploma offered in the future called a "Core 40 with Technical Honors" which will be an honors diploma for students completing the Core 4o college prep courses with a focus on the vocational classes in their electives.

Our Vocational Director, Mr. Metcalf, was worried about this legislation, but it looks like our programs may not be affected negatively.