Preparing Career Ready Graduates

Duncan Polytechnical High School

Duncan High School, Presentation by Principal Carol Hansen

• A campus with no boundaries, students come from many middle schools
• No criteria to enter program
• Approximately 350 freshman enter each year
• Students choose pathway freshman year but can change
• ROP focus
• Junior and seniors have block schedule in afternoon (2 hour ROP class)
• Students placed in real-world job sites
• Most students in ROP are full-time ROP students, but some come to Duncan in afternoon from home high school
• Classes are college prep, this isn’t the old voc ed model of education
• High percentage of students go on to higher education

Voices of Duncan Students - Following are paraphrased notes from a panel discussion with six current Duncan students:

1. Why did you come to Duncan?

• Brother attended, parents transferred me here.  I chose different pathway than brother to have well rounded family.
•  

2. What do you like best about coming to Duncan?

• Learned skills, like how to be professional and how to give presentations.  Learned job-site skills too.  People think I'm an adult and have offered me jobs already.
• They treat you well here.  People are friendly, everyone knows each other.
• People take care of each other.  If I need a ride home, people here will help me.

3.  How did you choose your career pathway?

• Interested in computers since I was a child, but I've learned social skills as well as technical skills in this program.
• I was always interested in this field.  Being here, taking classes just reinforced what I wanted to do.
•  

4.  What are some of the obstacles or challenges you've experienced in your education?

• Bus ride was an hour long to get to school, so I bought a car and had to get a job to pay for it.
• Not knowing what career pathway to take.  Here at Duncan I've had opportunity to explore options.
• Getting here in the morning because it’s a long drive to get me to school.  I have to get up at 6am.
• Transpiration.  My parents are going to work when I'm leaving school. 

5.  Does being in a pathway help you succeed in your other classes?

• Yes, because I get to use what I learned in one class in my other classes.
• My ROP class taught me how to study and be a better student.

6.  What are your jobsite experiences like?

• They're two-and-a-half month projects
• We get to learn about different careers and what offices are like
• We get to learn so many different things, and get to put our skills to a test.  It’s so different learning things from a book, versus getting to put it to use.
• We get to show what we learned.  People treat me like a coworker, not a student.  I was nervous at first, but they treat you the same as other there.  I also like being able to teach people things that I knew.
• It allowed me to realize so many things that I learned, I was allowed to work independently, and I could see how far I could go on my own.
• I enjoyed the jobsite a lot.  I worked on the Fresno State Graduation Ceremonies and got to show my boss how to use Excel, which I learned my sophomore year here at Duncan.  I was honored that she trusted me the way she trusts other adults.

7.  How do you get transported to your job sites?

• Busses

8.  What are you going to do after graduation?

• City College, part-time job and then work in business.  I filled out application to City College in my government class.
• Business pathway or legal field.  I'll decide later this year.  I was told I could do two years at City College and then transfer to Fresno State.
• Full-time college, probably work during college.  I filled out application to City College in my government class.
• Work and college
• College, but when I finish here I'll get my certification as a nurse’s assistant. I filled out application to City College in my government class.  I’d like to move to school in Oregon which has a top school in nursing according to my teacher.
• UC Berkeley for four years, business field, probably will be an entrepreneur and open a business with my brother.

9. Would you be open to try a different career pathway?

• I’m confident I'm going to follow this current pathway
• I want to stay in the paralegal field
• I like the interaction I had at my jobsite, so I want to stay in this field
• I'm open-minded to other opportunities, but I still want to be an entrepreneur

10. When you first started on your jobsite, were you surprised by anything?

• Have to be confidential about things you hear at the job.  Also, you need good communication skills.

11. Advice for middle school students?

• Don't procastinate
• Set goals for yourself
• Get good grades early on, stay on track 
• Don't full around too much, focus on what you want to do, stick with it, and listen to your instructors and bosses
• Listen carefully to teachers and take advice from your friends and family
• Be open-minded, its ok to change.  Challenge yourself to your full limits

12. Advice for adults, business leaders, community leaders, educators?

• Implement business skills, communication skills, resume writing, etc. for all students.
• Fix the transportation.  There aren't enough busses to get us to all of our job sites.  There are jobs in Clovis, but only people with cars get those jobs.
• Give advice to students, tell us what helped you get where you are.
• Get parents and family members involved with their kids.
• We dont always have the equipment we need or up-to-date tool, so its hard when we go to job sites if we haven't been trained to use them.
•