Junction City High School - A career academy

Описание: In a time where state testing and college preparation have become the focal point in most "traditional" public schools, Junction City High School has flipped the script and adopted a rather unique way of educating its students.

In 2003 JCHS adopted the "career academy structure" which is one that promotes preparing students for both higher education as well as entering immediately into the workforce.

With this in mind, the decision was made to create four separate academies within the high school. The first academy is the FSA (Freshman Success Academy) where all freshman students attend and work throughout the year on career exploration to help determine what career path interest them most.

The other three academies are housed at the CAC (Career Academy Campus) and are the FAHS, the BIT, and the SET.

The FAHS (Fine Arts and Human Services) provides four separate clusters including Performing Arts, Education/Training, Human Services, and Arts/AV/Communication.

The BIT (Business Information Technology) houses seven of its own clusters including Sales and Services/Marketing, Government and Public Administration, Finance, Hospitality and Tourism, Business Management and Administration, Information Technology, and Law And Public Safety.

The final academy within the CAC is the SET (Science Engineering and Technology) which offers six of its own clusters including Transportation and Logistics, STEM, Manufacturing, Health, Architecture and Construction, and Agriculture.

By creating these separate academies that all offer their own career specific clusters, students are able to determine a career path that interests them and then take classes geared towards that specific career.

With students being placed in specific clusters, within a specific academy it creates more smaller learning communities that allow students to be surrounded by peers that have similar career interests. This provides students with a leg up in terms of their knowledge and understanding of a specific career as they leave JCHS and move on to the next stage of their lives, whether that be pursue a higher education or enter directly into the workforce.

This video provides a more in-depth look into the adoption of the career academy structure, as well as how day-to-day operations take place at JCHS.

Over the coming months we will release a series of short features that focus on each academy individually and allow viewers a chance to see just how beneficial and student oriented this structure and Junction City High School truly are.

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This video is a product of the students of Junction City High School in Junction City, KS.