Decatur Middle School Expands Career Readiness Pathways with Paxton/Patterson Labs
- Paxton/Patterson Educator Network
- Jun 24
- 2 min read
Decatur Middle School is excited to share that at the start of the 2025–2026 school year, the school launched Paxton/Patterson College & Career Ready Labs, a hands-on, project-based learning experience designed to help students explore future possibilities while building real-world skills.
With strong student interest and positive feedback, the district plans to double enrollment next school year so that more students can benefit from this innovative program.
"It's truly a great experience to see students' interests grow, change, and develop as they experience a taste of several possible career paths."
Geoffrey Godbout
College & Career Labs Teacher
“The College & Career Ready modules are designed for students to explore a wide variety of Career Clusters and to develop their Career Ready Practices. Students spend a few weeks at a time in modules covering careers from Culinary Arts to Criminalistics, Cosmetology and Barbering to Welding, Health Sciences to Engineering and Design, to name a few," Godbout adds.
Mr. Michael Gath, Director of Secondary Education, shared that the modules were intentionally chosen to align with the Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways available at Decatur Central High School to the extent possible. This helps ensure continuity for students as they advance through secondary school and begin choosing specialized courses.
Beyond career exploration, the modules provide meaningful opportunities for students to strengthen essential academic skills, including math, reading, writing, science, and history.
This integration, especially with math and science, was clear to Decatur Middle School student, Isaiah Pedrey, who was participating in the Welding Basics module during a recent visit to the class.
"I’m using ABR simulation to weld. You have to get a good angle and travel speed to get a good weld. It’s very challenging,” he explained.
The goal of College & Career Ready Labs is simple but powerful: help students discover their interests, strengths, and aspirations. It encourages them to begin answering one of life’s biggest questions: “What do I want to be when I grow up?”
Information provided by: MSD of Decatur Township
Indianopolis, IN
