FUSD Commission on Workforce Readiness and Career Technical Education
February 18, 2009
UC Center, Fresno
Welcome – Tracewell Hanrahan
Introduction of guest speakers – Joel Rabin
Jorge Ramirez, Chula Vista Community Learning Charter School
Francisco Lopez, Chula Vista Community Learning Charter School
Davinee Huden, Chula Vista Community Learning Charter School
Chrysten Pope, Chula Vista Community Learning Charter School
Dan Blake, Sonoma County Office of Education
Cheryl Hibbeln, School of Digital Media and Design
As we continue our work to more deeply understand our current reality in Fresno and to identify best practices for our future, our three workgroups have held numerous meetings. Over the next two months will will continue to move our work forward as we identify best practices and make recommendations to bridge where we are today to reach that desired future. Today is an important part of that work. We've read research, toured Duncan and CART, and spoken with some highly motivated Duncan students. Ideally, we’d all tour California, visiting the most innovative schools and school districts in the state. Given our very busy schedules and limited time, we’ve some of the practioners from around the state to come here and speak with us today.
Jorge Ramirez, principal of the Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School in San Diego. With Jorge today is Christyn Pope, Davinee Huden, and Francisco Lopez, three Instructional Specialists who help lead the school. Their school is unique in a number of ways. First, their students spend half of their time learning in English and the other half in Spanish. Second, in the past few years, they have raised their academic achievement dramatically, far outpacing the average elementary school in California. Third, and most important for you today, this school has a Microsociety program in which every student has a job, earns a salary, and contributes to their world society.
Dan Blake, a Career Development Specialist from Sonoma County. For the past few years Dan has been supporting multiple schools to design and deliver career awareness and exploration programs for their students. Dan also facilitated a county-wide task force, similar to ours, tasked with designing a career development system for the entire county of Sonoma. For that work, Dan has not only worked with dozens of community and business leaders, but also with representatives from more than 40 separate school districts. Much of Dan’s recent work has focused on middle school career exploration program in Sonoma.
Cheryl Hibbeln, principal of the School of Digital Media and Design. Cheryl’s school is a public high school, one of four actually, all located on a single high school campus. Each of the four schools have about 450 students, and although they share a campus, they are autonomous schools. DMD serves students of poverty, teaches them communication skills through real-world projects, keeps them in school, and most importantly increases their academic achievement.
Chula Vista Community Learning Charter School. Eleven years ago the school undertook a study to determine what it should look like in the 21st century. The results were that the program :include the following concepts:
· Multi-cultural, multi-language, and multi-literacy (the students spend ½ of the instructional day in English and ½ of the day in Spanish)
· Global awareness
· No boundaries (similar to a magnet school)
· Application of academic skills to real world settings
· Everyone is involved with a common goal.
The school’s purpose is to :
· Develop and implement a rigorous program in English and Spanish to promote the development of bilingual, bi-literate, and multicultural competencies for all students
· Utilize research-based strategies to impact educational and social change for students by applying academic skills to real world settings
· Develop humanitarian perspectives by knowing and understanding the world. (MicroSociety)
The school developed a MicroSociety program. This is a research-based program that transforms by classroom by:
· Providing a real world context for academic learning
· Students collaborate with parents, business volunteers, and teachers to create function small communities.
· Students become citizens of their own classroom countries
· Community partnerships are formed
· Service learning projects are developed
Sonoma County Office of Education, Middle School Career Development.
Each school has a site coordinator.
· Each school has a site coordiantor
· The program grows out of the need to have students make informed decisions about high school programs/choices for their career pathways
· Career awareness: Learn about a wide variety of jobs and careers.
o Web research
o Guest speakers
o Career Fairs
o Industry tours and field trips
o Adult interaction
o Role models
· Career Exploration. Explore, research and plan for the future.
o Career Pathways, courses, and clubs
o Integrated curriculum
o Classroom simulations
o Career plan development
o Career-focused projects and assignments
o College exploration
o Job shadowing
o Career mentoring
o Community projects
o Risk taking
o Role playing
· Career Preparation. Gain education, training, and work experience.
o Core academic preparation
o Career technical courses and programs
o Work skills classes
o Career-related project-based learning
o Work ready certification
o Occupational certifications
o College preparation
o Work experience/internships/apprenticeships
o Skill building
o Progression of responsibility
Digital Media and Design. The School is one of four schools within the Kearny High Educational Complex.
· Principal beleives that to change or renew a school, one must start with the structure.
· Students have four, 90-minute classes each day.
· All professional development for faculty is done during the school day.
· Principal beleives that you must have like-minded people who have a common belief about how children learn.
· Must have a marriage of academics and industry.
· CTE classes must be UC A-G classes
· Student must learn
o How to problem solve
o Critical thinking
o Soft skills
Meeting attendees participated in roundtable discussions with the guest speakers in each of the work groups