This article was written by Ellary Ibrahim
One student’s agony can be another’s ecstasy working towards college credit, certifications, and diplomas at Kent Career Tech Center (KCTC).
KCTC is a high school program available for Juniors and Seniors. KCTC has an array of different classes you can take helping you build experience for future jobs in a professional environment. Students can earn certifications which apply to a degree related to the class you took. The skills KCTC teach prepare students for immediate employment or the continuance of their career preparation post high school.
For some, taking classes at KCTC gives students confidence that the career they desire to go into is actually for them. For others, the experience provided by KCTC proves a career they thought suited them in reality did not. The great thing about KCTC is it gives students the structure to figure out what they like and don’t like while trying it out.
Some of the students love their time at KCTC and the people they meet along the way. Senior Annalise Bowman is taking KCTC’s hospitality and culinary program.
“The atmosphere is so much different than a public school, and they [the teachers] truly genuinely care about you as a person,” Bowman said.
Getting to do something you love makes Bowman look forward to going to KCTC and enjoy being there.
“Just doing something that I personally love, I love cooking, and just being able to do that as a class. And I’m able to get education from that,” Bowman said.
Just like Bowman, Senior Aiden Obetts appreciated his time last year at KCTC while taking an automotive class and decided to come back for a second year. Obetts loves the connection between school and life which KCTC provides.
“The machines that we have to use are just fun to work, and overall, it’s just simple, easy, and there are things that you can do with your own vehicle,” Obetts said.
Being taught subjects that can be useful in the real world is something important to Obetts. He also appreciates learning in a non traditional school environment.
“I like being able to get outside of school and doing hands-on things instead of looking at computer screens and things like that, and you’re learning actual life lessons,” Obetts said.
On the other hand, some KCTC students dont love the program they joined. Senior Brandon Felker took the hospitality and culinary program KCTC offers. Felker tried it out for one year and KCTC helped him come to a decision regarding if he wanted to pursue a job in that field.
“I liked it a lot, but I didn’t love it and that’s not what I want to go into. I figured this out when I did it, so that’s why I didn’t continue on,” Felker said.
Senior Aaron Howe attended the welding program at KCTC. After testing it out he decided maybe the workload was getting to be too much to handle.
“Your grade can start to struggle then you are already behind on the new material and you don’t know how to do that material because it was two weeks ago they gave it to you,” Howe said.
KCTC had difficult demands for Howe when it came to the work they were being taught and the due date for it.
“I didn’t get all the material that we were getting, because they sort of just feed it to you fast,” Howe said.
The accumulation of these experiences for Howe showed him that welding wasn’t something he wanted to pursue and would rather just stay at Northview his senior year.
“I decided not to stick with KCTC because I wanted a fun senior year, and now I have a ton of classes with friends,” Howe said.
Joining KCTC has its ups and downs, the most important part is how you persevere through them. If you are leaning towards going, the opportunity is in your hands and KCTC has many programs to choose from that can peak your interest. And if you decide it’s not for you there are still many options for classes you can take at Northview.
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