CULLMAN, Ala. – Cullman City Schools is expanding its career and technical education (CTE) programs for the upcoming school year. New programs focused on cybersecurity, engineering and marketing will ramp up in the 2023-2024 school year.
“With the addition of three new CTE programs at Cullman High School, we are equipping learners with the foundational, transferable skills they will need for future jobs and the shifting work opportunities ahead,” Lindsay Brannon, secondary curriculum and CTE coordinator at Cullman City Schools, said. “I am thankful for the vision our board, superintendent and administration have to prepare students for post-secondary opportunities.”
Advancing career and technical education has been a focus and priority in recent years, and with the development of these three new programs, Cullman High School now offers eight different career tech pathways including computer science; food, wellness and dietetics; health science; general agriculture; engineering; educators in training; marketing; and cybersecurity.
“We are excited to announce the launch of our groundbreaking Career Technical Programs designed to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals in the field of STEM,” Cullman High School Principal Allison Tuggle said. “The Marketing, Cybersecurity and Engineering Programs will aim to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to this rapidly evolving field.”
In addition to course options at the high school level, the school system has also been implementing an intentional plan to build introductory career tech into the middle school curriculum with the goal of exposing students to various potential career paths. The middle school courses aim to develop foundational, technical and employability skills that they can continue to build in high school.
The cybersecurity and engineering programs will help develop Cullman City Schools’ K-12 STEM Initiative by expanding secondary course offerings in STEM education. The mission of the STEM initiative is to immerse students in collaboration, problem-solving, reasoning and higher-order thinking skills. In Cullman City Schools’ Career Technical Education programs, instructors intentionally introduce STEM competencies that industry and workforce development identify as critical competencies students must possess.
“It is evident that CTE programs strengthen students’ technical skills, academic skills, and employability skills needed to succeed in life,” Brannon said. “The meaningful, hands-on educational experiences that CTE offers will help students pursue a career passion that was fueled in a classroom in the Cullman City School system.”
