The Georgia Department of Education and its Career, Technical & Agricultural Education (CTAE) Division have awarded Statesboro High School’s construction career pathway and its SkillsUSA chapter a Certificate of Excellence. The pathway’s teacher and SkillsUSA advisor, Josh Hall, accepted the certificate which highlighted the outstanding achievements of the pathway and its accompanying student technical organization.
“The certificate is a reflection of my students,” said Hall, who has led the school’s Construction career pathway for two years. “I gave them some opportunities and they ran with them. It was very little on my part.”
One of the learning opportunities that Hall developed for his students also recently earned a $1,000 grant from the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education. The project he calls, “A Little Learning on Wheels,” has students create a mobile construction classroom to provide various interactive and hands-on learning stations. Students began with an old camper which they’ve demolished to the chassis, and are now in the process of framing, flooring, roofing, applying vinyl siding, and installing electrical and Internet wiring as they work towards completion.
Hall stated that he wants this project to promote the CTAE programs at Statesboro High School. Georgia’s CTAE programs offer students more than 130 career pathway options within 17 different career clusters. Bulloch County Schools offers 13 of those career clusters with 20 career pathways. Statesboro High provides seven career clusters with 11 different career pathway options for students. Its construction program is part of the Architecture and Construction cluster and Carpentry pathway. February is a key time that CTAE teachers like Hall promote their programs as the state celebrates CTAE month, and eighth-grade students begin a major transition as they prepare graduation plans and register for high school courses for their upcoming freshmen year which will include choosing CTAE courses.
Hall shared that he strives to make the pathway meaningful for students through learning experiences that involve project planning, physical skills and labor, and interaction with local and area leaders in the industry. The pathway encompasses three courses and students who complete the trio of courses can work toward industry certifications or use this as a foundation to pursue post-secondary degrees in related fields.
