Career and Technical Education opportunities for students

Career and Technical Education opportunities for students
Posted on 10/14/2021
Outdoor Recreation students on a kayak excursion. Photo by Courtney Gomola

Ninth through twelfth-grade students at Plumas Charter School are invited to learn marketable skills through the grant-funded Career and Technical Education Program. This summer, PCS was awarded a second round of funding from the Strong Workforce Program, adding two part-time counselors to the program, and development of an early engagement program for seventh and eighth-grade students. 


Coordinators lead six pathways at PCS, focusing on the areas of agriscience; art, music, and digital media; food service, forestry and natural resources, outdoor recreation, and patient care. Two additional pathways, public service and software systems, do not yet have coordinators assigned. If you have experience in either field and would like more information, please contact PCS Executive Director, Taletha Washburn at [email protected].


The early engagement program’s goal is to create interest and provide students with information about their options before they get to high school. “This aspect of the program is building for success with early exposure,” said Washburn. Seventh graders interested in outdoor recreation may get a chance to go rock climbing to introduce them to the outdoor recreation pathway, decorate cupcakes with the food-service leader, or take a trip to a local farm to see agriscience in action, for example. “The focus for the seventh-grade activities is to give students a first connection to the pathway and industry,” said Gomola. The eighth-grade exposure experiences will focus on learning a pathway-related skill and also explore careers in the pathway. “For all our pathways we are working to engage industry or FRC partners in these exposure experiences where appropriate,” said Gomola. 


PCS partners with Feather River College for CTE programs with the goal of encouraging students to explore and prepare for career options with an emphasis on local industries to allow students to learn about careers they can pursue within their region.


Plumas Charter School operates learning centers in Quincy, Taylorsville, and Chester. Learn more at plumascharterschool.org

By Rachel Goings, Public Relations Specialist

[email protected]

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Outdoor Recreation students on a kayak excursion. Photo by Courtney Gomola