Capitol News

Lansing School District Superintendent Ben Shuldiner addressed the school board at recent meeting concerning learning and career opportunities for students.

At the beginning of the month, the district held a press conference announcing their plans to convert their Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. Previously, students took courses in the mornings or afternoons at the Hill Center Location. Now, the district will designate the program into a standalone CTE academy where students will attend for four years to take CTE courses, along with basic courses.

This new high school will go under the moniker Lansing Technical High School and will offer four main areas of study: fire science and medical, computer science, culinary arts and building trades.

Students will start in ninth grade and choose one of those areas to study in, after which even their core classes will be able to incorporate and connect directly to the career path they have chosen. The school will be developed in phases, enrolling just ninth graders this coming fall, and continuing them on until they have a full four-year building in 2026-2027 school year.

Shuldiner was excited to have a CTE program that celebrated students who are seeking to excel in a career path after high school, and that this program would honor that and not be a catch all for students not interested in college.

“I'm really happy, really proud that we're doing this because it's the right differentiation for our children,” he said. “Because, again, this isn't just about a skill, it's about career, but it's also about academics. One of the sad truths about CTE historically has been that it has been used as a dumping ground, as a place to just throw kids because they don't want to be in the kind of quote unquote, college track. But this is the exact opposite. This is saying to kids, your academics, your skill, your career are all going to be tied together.”

Students who are enrolled in a true CTE program often show higher graduation rates than the average school, up to 8-10% above the normal level. The school officials showed a brief highlight video from their press release on the topic, proudly showing instructors and students of their CTE program and even a statement of support from the Mayor Andy Schor, who said that tradespeople like fire, EMS and builders, are extremely valuable to the community.