The recent opening of two large career and technical education (CTE) centers in eastern North Dakota is expanding opportunities for high school students to experience more hands-on and career-specific classes, connect with regional employers, explore future career options, and even earn college credit toward those careers.
The Grand Forks Public Schools Career Impact Academy (CIA) and the NDSCS Career Innovation Center (CIC) in Fargo host a wide variety of career and technical classes for students from multiple participating districts. The state-of-the-art centers also partner with regional postsecondary schools for dual-credit and concurrent enrollment classes, introduce students to high-tech equipment, and are made possible by the support of local organizations and businesses.
Both centers are dedicated to providing students with engaging, hands-on opportunities to study careers and programs that interest them before they graduate from high school, helping them find their future paths. It’s an opportunity for students to bring their interests, passions, and drive to the classroom to see if these careers are a good match.
“We see a huge difference in students’ engagement between what they have to take and what they want to take,” says Eric Ripley, executive director of CTE & Technology at Grand Forks Public Schools. “In a traditional setting, students will take the required classes, but it’s a different level of engagement and meaning when they are taking classes at this facility.”
Fargo’s CIC: Helping students find their voices
The CIC in Fargo is the culmination of more than a decade of planning and collaboration among North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) in Wahpeton, West Fargo Public Schools, Fargo Public Schools, Northern Cass School District, Central Cass School District, and several supporting organizations. The four school districts formed the Cass County Career & Technical Education Consortium (C3TEC) back in 2014 to combine career and tech classes, with future plans for creating a center.
While some classes, like aviation and diesel technology, will continue to be taught at their respective high schools, many of the CTE programs are now centralized at the CIC, including allied health, agriculture science and precision technology, construction and building trades, manufacturing, business and marketing, and computer science.
From the Sanford Health allied health wing with simulation labs and an ambulance to the agriculture science “Lettuce Grow” stands and “Farm Bots” that replicate features in today’s farm equipment, students are truly getting hands-on experience. The building trades students will even create a tiny house from start to finish this year, thanks to a partnership with Wilkin Homes in Barnesville, MN.
“Students are thinking about what’s next for themselves and these CTE experiences really help them find their voice. They can explore those opportunities now.”
-Dr. Denise Jonas, director for Career and Technical Education for the C3TEC
The partnership with NDSCS means many of the classes are dual-credit or dual-optional. Connections with regional employers have led to donated equipment and technology, sponsored wings, and ongoing opportunities for students through work-based learning, mentorships, and more.
The partnerships benefit everyone involved.
“I get really excited about these opportunities for our students to learn and for our communities to thrive,” Jonas says.
Golden Path Solutions and Compass support those student-employer partnerships and opportunities by helping students gain a deeper understanding of their skills and interests, proactively matching them with careers and employers, and making the work-based learning process easier to manage.
“Compass can really be the conduit for all of this,” Jonas says, “helping students identify their goals, prompting students to meet with their counselor to explore those goals, connecting them with opportunities, and more.”
Grand Forks’ CIA: Transforming virtual CTE to hands-on experiences
The CIA in Grand Forks shares a similar story of districts first coming together about a dozen years ago to support CTE learning, though limited to mostly virtual learning. Now, the physical center provides specially designed spaces for programming in engineering, robotics and manufacturing, aviation, culinary arts, building trades, precision technology, automotive, health sciences, and information technology and computer science. Students from Grand Forks, Thompson, Larimore, Hatton, May-Port, Hillsboro, Central Valley, and Northwood all take classes that are part of the CIA.
“The CIA is for all students,” Ripley says. “It’s about providing career exploration and development, allowing students to identify courses that align with their interests and then connecting the dots to what the next steps are.”
College partners include Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, ND, and the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, and, like the CIC in Fargo, employer connections are vital to providing additional opportunities for students. In fact, employers and community members played a crucial role in making the CIA possible, providing matching funds for the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education (NDCTE) grant that initiated the project. The grant funds were provided by the federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. The matching funds of more than $10 million came from individuals and 99 industry partners.
The support of those industry partners is felt throughout the CIA and its programming.
“A high-quality CTE center should have solid partnerships with employers in the industries it represents,” Ripley says. “From advisory committees providing insight and guidance to ensure you’re producing the right skill sets in classes to providing certain student opportunities or ensuring students have access to certain equipment, employer connections are so important.”
And like at the CIC, Golden Path and Compass support these and overall career exploration through student and employer profiles, recommended careers and work-based learning opportunities, and more.
“Compass makes meaningful connections for students based on their skills and interests. We want to continue to foster ways for students to be in Compass even more often, increasing the ways they utilize it for their development.”
-Eric Ripley, executive director of CTE & Technology at Grand Forks Public Schools
It’s all about helping students discover their future pathways.
“We’re enabling students to identify courses that align with their interests and then connecting the dots to what the next steps are,” Ripley says. “All of this allows students to explore and find out what they do and don’t want to do.”
Other regional CTE centers
The CIC and CIA are the latest of several CTE centers in our region, all providing hands-on career and tech experiences for students. Other centers include:
- Bakken Area Skills Center(BASC) in Watford City, ND
- Bismarck (ND) Public Schools Career Academy and Technical Center
- Heart River Career and Technical Education Center in Mandan, ND
- James Valley Area Career and Tech Center in Jamestown, ND
- Lake Area Career and Technology Center in Devils Lake, ND
- Minot (ND) Area Workforce Academy
- Moorhead (MN) High School Career Academy
- North Valley Area Career & Technology Center in Grafton, ND
- Sheyenne Valley Area Career and Technology Center in Valley City, ND
- Southeast Region Career and Technology Center in Wahpeton
- Southwest Area Career and Technical Education Academy in Dickinson, ND
- Williston (ND) Basin Career & Technical Education (WBCTE) Center
More information
For more information about the new CIC in Fargo, contact Jonas. For more information about the new CIA in Grand Forks, contact Ripley.
To learn more about how Golden Path Solutions and Compass support CTE centers or work-based learning for all high school students, contact Founder and CEO Patrick Mineer.