Survivors and Thrivers: Career and Technology Education at “The William D” in Wayne-Westland!

There is much discussion these days about the importance of skilled trades and the role of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in Michigan. In this three part series, Karl interviews three veteran and amazing teachers from the William D. Ford Career Tech Center in the Wayne-Westland Public Schools.

Jim Schirmer (Automotive Technology), Zack McClean (Electronics/Alternative Energy) and JC Irvine (Programming and Gaming Design) share their insights on topics ranging from the public perception of CTE, Employability Skills, curriculum shifts over time and the connections between CTE and Project-based learning. Michigan’s career-tech high schools are amazing assets that have gone through rough times. Hear how this spotlight school has survived and continues to flourish!

More about them can be found by clicking here.

Karl discusses the changes in career and technical education with Jim Schirmer, Zack McClean and JC Irvine from the William D. Ford Career Tech Center in the Wayne-Westland Public Schools.

These teachers give their input on the shift in the industry, which has gone from trades oriented, to a trades and technology industry. In the early days, it was a plumbing, auto mechanics and carpentry; now, electronics and technology are incorporated into many of the courses. They discuss some of these more sophisticated courses like Java programming and game design that students are interested in. They also discuss solar energy and the programs being offered at the school.