Career enrichment program would aid Costa students

By Alex White
Staff Writer

Mira Costa should adopt a program that encourages students to choose classes and extracurricular activities based on academic and occupational areas of interest.

The concept allows students to pick a path during high school for a specific career, thus choosing classes and extracurriculars based on that decision. These programs are viewed by educational experts as beneficial to goal-oriented students who have already decided on college majors but lack specific extracurriculars for the courses they wish to take.

It can also help students plan for their future, allowing them to explore new areas of study. If Costa were to adopt it, the school could be a pioneer of these career-enrichment programs.

This program has been used at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, New Jersey. DMHS was a low achieving school that wanted to give its students a chance to standout in the increasingly rigorous college admissions process by having background experience in their areas of interest.

In addition to state standards, students could take specialized electives in subjects they wished to pursue, such as biomedicine or finance. Costa could benefit from specialized courses because students would gain more experience in potential majors. The program has attracted major media attention and helped college admission rates for graduates.

Across the country, other “career academies” have sprung up that place academic importance on specific job skills. The National Career Academy Coalition describes these schools as a mix between conventional education and vocational training, claiming it is beneficial for students.

Transforming Costa into a career academy, however, should not be the goal. By creating a program to orient students toward majors before they graduate, students will have a distinct advantage in the workforce and in college admissions, as they will have already been immersed in subjects they wish to study.

By making the program available to all students, while understanding that not all will take it, Costa students can have a leg up in college applications. The key is balance between focusing too much in a specific area and pursuing a broad education.

General education courses would still be required, but with specialized classes as a supplement. This program would not require a fundamental overhaul of class selection.

These paths to specialized education can place extra focus on extracurriculars, in addition to taking advantage of already offered courses at Costa. For example, if students decide on paths for medical careers, their Guidance Counselors could direct them to volunteer opportunities or Southern California Regional Occupation Center programs that would help them in that field.

This type of program has received criticism when it has been put into place. Critics point to an over-focused student missing out on some of the fundamental aspects of education. Keeping required general education classes would counter this.

Giving students the option to focus their high school careers based on their probable study in college would be helpful. The increased focus on specialized subjects would allow them to gain a deeper background in potential majors before college and stand out in admissions.