Many officials attended the Spencer County Middle School Career Exploration Paxton/Patterson Lab ribbon cutting ceremony. Pictured are, from left, Micayla Gabrie, the school lab director; Principal Matt Mercer; Leslie Slaughter, director of Transition, Workforce and Innovation for Spencer County; Kentucky Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher; and Spencer County Superintendent Willie Foster.
On Nov. 8, Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher and Kentucky Department of Education personnel from the Office of Career and Technical Education and the Office of Teaching and Learning – along with district representatives from across the Commonwealth – attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at Spencer County Middle School's Career Exploration Paxton/Patterson Lab.
This state-of-the-art lab gives middle school students the opportunity to explore multiple career and technical education (CTE) career paths within a single space. Named "The Grizzly Learning Den," educators collaborated with a student leadership team who chose a name that honors the middle school’s spirit and creates a unique learning environment for students. Students also came up with graphics for the lab, color schemes. motivational quotes, furniture and layout of the four rooms.
"The course itself is called Career Exploration and features 16 career clusters and 32 career modules. Each class session includes 15-16 active modules, with students assigned to modules based on their individual learning plans (ILPs), skills and interests.
Each career module includes a 10-day Paxton/Patterson curriculum, specific to that career pathway. Upon completion, the class (as a whole) rotates to a new module. Students work in pairs (they receive a new partner with each module rotation) and are matched by similar ILP profiles."
Micayla Gabrie
Lab Director
Some of the students' most popular modules are Computer Graphics and Game Development, Criminalistics, Design and Marketing, Flight and Drone Technology, Home Maintenance Systems, Intro to Child Development, Intro to Culinary Arts and Video Production.
While Career Exploration is an elective course, students are encouraged to take the course at least once during their middle school experience. Students can retake the course in subsequent semesters, and due to the wide variety of modules available, even those starting in 6th grade won’t complete every module by the end of middle school.
A crowning feature of the lab is that the career modules are aligned to CTE career pathways offered at Spencer County High School, allowing students to formulate more concrete thoughts on what career pathway they would like to pursue when they enter high school and begin to think about a potential career plan.
The project was birthed when Superintendent Willie Foster approached Tim Mercer, principal of SCMS, and asked what the district could do for the school. An idea that continually repeated itself was what college and career readiness could look like at the middle school level.
After much discussion involving all stakeholders (including students), considering available space, staffing resources and extensive research, Spencer County Middle School decided to enlist Paxton/Patterson College and Career Ready Labs to execute the project. The learning systems engage students with problem-based, real-world technology. The modules empower students to discover their interests and aptitudes using a discovery-based learning approach.
“As a CTE student, I connected in my classes to what Daniel Pink described in his best-selling book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. My motivation to learn was sparked when I could work on projects that allowed for autonomy (self-direction), mastery (the ability to show improvement), and purpose (a connection to why the work was important). This mindset has stuck with me and is a driving force in our curriculum development process as we design experiences for students to discover their interests and aptitudes.”
Nate Schuessler
CEO
Paxton/Patterson
Funding for this project was a major undertaking. Leslie Slaughter, director of Transition, Workforce and Innovation for Spencer County Schools, described the effort as "an all hands-on deck approach to getting the lab up and running."
Using state CTE funding (formerly the LAVEC funds) for most of the modules, local district funds for the furniture and the Spencer County Educational Foundation funding the branding and graphic design work throughout the lab space, it was truly a collaborative effort to bring this project to fruition.
During the ribbon cutting event, Fletcher and the team from KDE had the opportunity to tour the lab and engage with students at their stations. There were two stations that stood out to me. Students who were exploring health sciences were able to check my blood pressure, heart rate and temperature using equipment you would find in any walk-in clinic. These students were able to inform me that my heart rate and blood pressure were within a healthy, normal range for a man my age and I was running a slightly low temperature at 97.8°F. There also was a welding station that used augmented reality, allowing students to practice four different welds in a virtual space.
Prior to exploring the lab, the team from KDE and other visitors were treated to a luncheon provided by Spencer County High School's culinary arts student chefs.
Giving students in middle school early opportunities to explore CTE pathways helps them make more informed decisions regarding what potential pathways and careers are available when they transition to high school and beyond.
"Superintendent Foster and Principal Mercer had a vision for career exploration at the middle school level that connects students with a pathway at the high school. With careful planning that included students as architects, the vision is now a reality. Their process and product are examples of what it means to be 'All In' for our students!"
Robbie Fletcher
Kentucky Commissioner of Education
Student chefs from Spencer County High School's culinary arts program provided a luncheon for our visit. Pictured, from left, are Caden Williams, Conor Vidal, Dale Floden, Gabriel Vanderpool, Eliot Wilson and Kaylen Newton.
Provided by: John Paise
Kentucky Department of Education
