PaCE program draws praise for helping students find careers paths, goals
By Igor Studenkov | For the Bugle
When Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner heard about Niles Township District 219’s career education program, he was so intrigued that decided to see it for himself.
The Post-secondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) program aims to help students choose careers and get into either a college or a trade school. Each student can choose a “career pathway” where students take specialized classes and more general electives to help them reach their career goals.
During his Jan. 22 visit to Niles West High School, Rauner got a look at Career Technical Education in Engineering, Computer Science, and Business programs. The governor said that he was impressed with what he saw; touting it as a model the rest of the state should follow.
According to a presentation given to Rauner – a copy of which was provided to the Bugle as the visit concluded – the idea behind PaCE is to not only get the students into classes that would prepare them for their careers, but give them opportunity to visit businesses within the field, look at what kind of post-secondary education they would need and what financial aid they would need. Each student starts out with a general career cluster until they narrowed it down to a more specific career path.
Each school year, the students take at least one class that is specific to their career pathway. As the years go on, they are also able to choose electives that offer skills that fit that career. The district offers a total of 11 career pathways – Architecture & Construction; Arts, Audio Visual Technology, and Communication; Business, Management, & Finance; Computer Science/Information Technology; Education and Training; Manufacturing / Engineering Technology; Government, Human Services, and Law; Health Science; Hospitality, Food, Agriculture, & Natural Resources; Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM); and Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics.
Rauner was particularly interested in the technical education programs. District 219 is part of the Northern Suburbs Educational Region Vocational Education (NSERVE), a career and technical education consortium. According to Mary Anne Brown, the executive assistant to the organization, it was NSERVE Executive Director Martha Eldredge Stark who got the word out to the governor.
Stark told the reporters that while there is still a certain stigma associated with careers in manufacturing and technology because they are seen as less prestigious that careers that require college degrees, but that has been changing.
“I think the reason is that people are looking at how many kids who are going to college actually graduate and how many go into debt,” Stark said. “We see too many kids go to college without having any idea of what they want to do.”
Jim Szczepaniak, District 219’s director of Community Relations, told the reporters that, contrary to popular belief, one could make a decent living in those fields.
“Some of the kids – they have no clue they could be making six figures as an engineer or an automotive technician,” he said.
In the end, District 219 and NSERVE aren’t trying to steer students exclusively toward college or a technical school – they just want to make sure students choose a path that best suits them.
“We got kids who are smart, we get kids who are good with their hands and we get them working together, much like in the business world.” Szczepaniak said.
“There are different kinds of smart,” Stark said. “We want to make sure every student has opportunities.”
After Rauner saw the presentation, he went to visit three classrooms. At the Design & Prototyping Lab, which has laser cutters and 3D printers, the governor talked to three students – sophomore Ruby Martinez, freshman Angelina Boudourbas and freshman Karly Svachula – who are part of a Women’s Introduction to Engineering Design class. He was impressed that they not only wanted to go into engineering, but that they already made their secondary education plans.
At the CNC Machines-Robotics Area, Rauner saw students demonstrate robots they built. And in the auto shop and welding area, the governor got a look at a three-wheel electric vehicle that was being built, which he described as “awesome.”
As the tour came to a close, Rauner praised the district staff and officials.
“Thanks for all your great work,” he said. “You’ve done a wonderful job for your students.”
Rauner told the reporters that education was a major priority for him.
“Every year, I want to support schools like Niles West so we can have all schools become the best schools in America,” he said.