Mt. Pleasant Community School District support career-focused programs with Career and Technical Education Expo

MT. PLEASANT - It was chicken wings and cheese balls galore at the second annual Career and Technical Education Expo held last Friday at Mt. Pleasant High School.

Local businesses and organizations came together and sold appetizers to support the high school's career-focused programs. Proceeds from the fundraiser went toward supporting culinary arts, the Iowa Jobs for America's Graduates (iJAG) program and agriculture and shop classes.

Marjorie Beckman, who heads the culinary arts program and organized the event, said classes like the one she teaches are important, especially for students who are looking for options other than going directly to college.

'There are some kids that want to be able to go into the workforce right away, so we're teaching them skills so they can become employable right out of high school,” Beckman said.

Mt. Pleasant High School principal Todd Liechty, added that providing career-focused classes are important for students and help develop practical skills used to navigate everyday life.

'The kids get to experience something that they get to use down the road. It's not ‘I'm using the quadratic equation, when am I going to use it?' It's ‘I'm cooking, I'm learning about agriculture, I'm making stuff.' It's skills that they take with them,” Liechty said.

Mt. Pleasant Community School District Superintendent John Henriksen, who was a career and technical education (CTE) teacher before entering a leadership role in education, said he feels it is important to provide CTE programs because it allows students to 'find and explore different things.”

'That's what happened to me as a student. I was just doing some exploring and I fell in love with industrial tech and industrial arts and that's why I became an industrial arts teacher. So whether it be family consumer science or ag, it's an opportunity for kids to explore, see what they like and maybe make a career out of it,” Henriksen said.

In support of iJAG, state rep. Joe Mitchell also attended the expo, helping to pass out appetizers.

'It's important to stand behind programs that you believe in,” the state rep. said.

Mitchell, who advocated for a million dollar increase from the state for the program, explained that he was eager to help bring the program to Mt. Pleasant and coordinated with the CEO of iJAG to make that a reality. The program helps address workforce issues in the state, one of the representatives main focuses of this current legislative session.

iJAG instructor Tony Swayzer explained that in his program, he helps students prepare for a path, whether that be going to college or going directly into a career. The instructor helps facilitate relationship building with local employers and helps students build skills they may need, either to enter a career or go into higher education.

Speaking specifically about preparing students for technical careers with iJAG, Swayzer explained that there is a fear of automation, which has seemingly repelled people from technical fields. However, jobs are still available and need to be filled.

'Everyone's concerned that we're losing jobs to automation but for every new job … there's never been an opportunity more than right now where you don't have to go to college and can go right into a career field in technology. So if there's automation, who's going to fix the automation, who's going to fix those computers, who's going to do that technical work? There's always going to be a skilled job needed,” Swayzer said.

In addition to appetizers, community members were also able to enjoy presentations by students in the various programs. Juniors Brennen Bender and Grace Scheetz who are both part of the new agriculture class and FFA program at the high school, said they've been inspired to consider careers in agriculture.

'Once I joined all the ag programs, I wanted to be more involved. I don't know what I want to go into yet because there's so many things I could do,” Bender said.

'The most fun part is all the experiences that we get. We've gone to competitions and conventions and you get to learn about a bunch of different animals,” Sheetz added.