It’s been 10 years since my youngest child graduated from the Anchorage School District. Since that time, I have had little involvement with ASD, but for the better part of the past 27 years, I have been intimately involved, from the employment side, in hiring hundreds of local people.
I listened as ASD listed the challenges they were facing: stagnant graduation rates, poor attendance rates, and lack of student engagement and connection. As I began to learn about the academies concept, I started to understand how it could benefit not just our students, but also our local businesses. I came to believe that this new career-focused program could play a key role in increasing our local workforce and reversing the trend of high migration of young adults from the state.
At the end of their freshman year, they will choose a career pathway that is offered in an academy at their high school. That pathway becomes a learning lens for the rest of their learning experiences.Academies were determined by market demand, student and parent interest, and available resources.
Local businesses will be involved in providing curriculum that meets industry needs, introducing students to careers, providing job shadowing opportunities, internship opportunities, and even work opportunities.