From left, Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence Camacho, Saipan Southern High School registrar Samuel David Santos, Board of Education Secretary/Treasurer Greg Borja, Mia Carreon of PSS’ Human Resources Office, and Dr. Jessica Taylor, Career and Technical Education program director.
THE Public School System has declared February as Career and Technical Education Month.
On Thursday, PSS stakeholders joined CTE Program Director Dr. Jessica Taylor, Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence Camacho, and Board of Education Secretary/Treasurer Greg Borja at a proclamation signing.
According to the PSS website, the CTE program aims to produce students who are college and career ready.
Under the program, students can be dual enrolled at the Northern Marianas Trades Institute or Northern Marianas College. Students can also avail themselves of certification opportunities at Island Training Solutions, the Western Pacific Maritime Training Academy, and the Guam Marianas Training Center.
Camacho said the CTE Program provides students with life skills “so that as they grow and develop…they are prepared [for the workforce] because we have guided them.”
He noted that the current generation of students at PSS are forward looking.
“This new generation…are very well prepped and are always thinking of their career and…what life looks like after they graduate,” he added.
Borja agreed, saying he supports the CTE program. “It’s something I’m really glad the school system is doing to move forward in getting our students those opportunities and those options to explore different career pathways,” he added.
Samuel David Santos, a registrar at Saipan Southern High School, said the program was “pivotal” in his pathway to education.
Santos was in CTE’s Teacher Academy program when he was a student at Kagman High School.
“CTE played a pivotal role in my desire to pursue education as my career pathway,” Santos said, adding that he is a “proud product” of the program.
Mia Carreon, who participated in the program when she was still a Marianas High School student, said CTE showed her a pathway to employment after graduation.
“CTE was great to me,” she said. “It helped me by giving me an overview of what career opportunities were available to me.”
Carreon is now a personnel specialist at PSS’ Human Resources Office.
