On Friday, Jan. 19, freshman health students took a day off from their usual studies to visit some potential courses for the upcoming school year. Amador’s Career Technology Education (CTE) program hosted small groups of students in classrooms to show off projects and meet students who are currently enrolled in the courses. From culinary, computer science, engineering, and biomed, freshmen looked into the wide range of courses available to them on a first hand basis.
“I think it’s great for the freshmen to see in person the amazing electives Amador has to offer. It gave Mr. Dady and I the opportunity to brag about our classes and let our students show the underclassmen what they could do if they were interested in culinary,” said culinary teacher Julia Ford.
As freshmen switch their semesters courses between health and ethnic or global studies, students who are now in global studies will have their turn touring CTE classes in February. For the program, CTE teachers set out fun activities their classes are working on. For example, activities from computer science classes include drones, virtual reality game and app development, and student-made robots.
“Our goal was to make [the freshmen] aware of the many options on our campus to explore their interests. That’s our big motivation, to make sure they know. Almost none of them know [about the classes] so this is a great opportunity,” said Tony Dennis, engineering teacher.
The CTE teachers aimed to expose freshmen students by making students aware of the different programs available. While learning more about each program, the freshmen got to familiarize with the environment of the classrooms. Teachers showed off technology such as laser engraving and 3D-printers in engineering to pique students’ interest.
“I liked the diversity of how all the classes are so different. It’s nice that I can experiment with what I want to do. It’s not just for people who have previous experience in the specific subject, but it’s really for anyone. The school doesn’t talk about these things a lot so I didn’t know about them before,” said Briahna Ma (‘27).
The teachers go over different available course options, what students will learn in each, and class requirements. This helps freshmen receive extra information on their options that otherwise would have been difficult to find.
“After seeing the engineering building and all the machines it makes me want to join the class. I would not have wanted to join the class until the tour,” Deron Fan (‘27).
Engineering teacher Tony Dennis talks to freshmen about the different projects he has in the engineering program.
Freshmen as culinary teacher Julia Ford explains the different types of foods her students learn to make in class.
In the engineering workshop room, teacher Eric Ra explains to freshmen the technology used in the engineering curriculum.
