About 300 career and technical education teachers from across the state are attending training courses in Lafayette this week as part of the state's push to prepare high school students to take full advantage of Louisiana's growing jobs market.
About 300 career and technical education teachers from across the state are attending training courses in Lafayette this week as part of the state's push to prepare high school students to take full advantage of Louisiana's growing jobs market.
The five-day Jump Start 2014 Super Summer Institute is a training session that qualifies instructors to train students, who in turn will be eligible for career credentials and will receive dual credit - high school and college credit - for the training.
Lisa French, Louisiana Department of Education's executive director of career and technical education, tells The Advocate the state's last technical education summer training institute was held in 2010, and it was reinstated this summer because of the Jump Start initiative.
"We know that technical education is important for our state," French said. "There are 80,000-plus jobs available in our skills crafts. We know it's important for our teachers to be certified in high-demand, high-wage fields so our students are prepared for those jobs."
French said 20 sessions in fields ranging from welding, carpentry, electrical, computer technology, drafting, nurse assistant and manufacturing are being offered this week on the campus of South Louisiana Community College in Lafayette. The training ends Friday when educators take exams to receive certification.
This week, the business teachers will receive initial certification in the course but will continue their certification process online.
Kerry Saucier teaches carpentry and welding at Midland High School in Acadia Parish. He's certified to teach both courses, though this week he'll complete a certification so his students are eligible to receive dual-enrollment credit in carpentry. Next summer, he'll become dual-enrollment certified in welding, he said.