Photo by Merrick Wilson.
0213 Homewood HIgh Career Tech
Hysani Tubbs earns hours toward a cosmetology license through new course offerings at Homewood High School.
Alexis Crenshaw is pretty sure she knows where she wants to go to college, but she’s having trouble deciding whether to become a chef or a lawyer afterward. To help make that decision, the Homewood High School junior is enrolled in the culinary arts class, where she is learning to make things like banana pudding and Nutella crepes. Next year she plans to take business law to see which profession she likes better.
Crenshaw’s professionally orient-ed electives are part of the new expanded career-related electives in culinary arts, business law, financial planning, health and medical science and cosmetology.
“[Students] might not realize what these careers entail,” said Dr. Betty Winches, assistant superintendent for instruction. “This allows them to see how these professionals spend their day while also having the opportunity to gain some actual training.”
Dani Felty, who now serves as the career tech coordinator, saw a need for these electives when she was teaching computer applications at Homewood High School. In her class, the students did some career exploration activities and assessments, and she saw the need for offering career ready classes.
“Some students who choose to immediately go into the workforce need additional specific preparation to enter the workforce. Then you have the students who want to go to college, but they are undecided about what they want to major in and just need a little introduction into a field to decide on that major,” she said.
Using a survey for grades 8-11, she identified the six courses based on student interest.
“Once we knew which courses students wanted to take, we had to promote these brand new courses so students would know to include them during the course selection process,” Felty said.
To promote the electives, she planned a career expo the day before students were expected to request classes for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year. She invited three professionals from each of the areas of the new courses to share information about their careers and answer questions.
Currently, 156 students are enrolled in these career related electives.
Dr. Desiree Smith, who serves as the career tech administrator, said they would review the success of these electives each year. Just like other electives they will be offered in response to student interest and need, she said.
“The goal is to help undecided students make good choices, and for decided students to confirm their career paths,” Smith said.
In her cosmetology class, senior Noell Marlowe is not only gaining awareness about the field but also earning training hours toward her license.
“My nana and I would do each other’s hair and make-up when I was a little girl. I always knew I wanted to do that for others,” she said.
Through a partnership with Aveda Institute Birmingham, an Aveda instructor comes to HHS and teaches the students while allowing them to have hands-on experience using mannequins during the first semester. The second semester, the students take classes at the Aveda Institute where they earn hours towards becoming a licensed cosmetologist. Noell will graduate HHS with 90 hours of the 1,500 she’ll need to get her license.
“This class will better prepare her for immediate entry into the workforce,” Felty said.
Hysani Tubbs, an eleventh grader, is taking the cosmology elective so she can become a cosmetologist to help her pay for medical school.
“I know I want to go to medical school, but I also wanted to learn more about hair and make-up,” she said. “I enjoy it, because she doesn’t just tell us stuff or show us a Power Point. We get to be hands-on and experiment to learn.”
