CTE Overview:

Craven County Schools division of Career and Technical Education (CTE) is committed to providing relevant and rigorous training that reflects the skillsets needed by the workforce in Craven and surrounding counties. By training our students with 21st century skills needed by our local and regional industries, we produce a highly skilled and qualified workforce that will meet the needs of those industries and therefore improve the overall economic capacity of the area. Our programs are aligned and articulated with Craven Community College providing opportunities for students to earn stackable credentialing, certificates and post-secondary degrees faster.
Craven CTE provides instruction in 75 courses in 7 program areas to 5 high schools and 5 middle schools. Programs are listed below with a sample of courses taught in each program.

• Agricultural Education – Agricultural Mechanics, Animal Science, Horticulture

• Business and Information Technology Education – Microsoft IT Academy, Multimedia and Webpage Design, Business Law

• Family and Consumer Sciences Education – Culinary Arts, Foods, Apparel Development

• Health Sciences Education – Health Team Relations, Health Science, Public Health Fundamentals

• Marketing and Entrepreneurship Education – Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Sports Marketing

• Technology, Engineering and Design Education – Engineering Design, Scientific Visualization, STEM Investigation (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)

• Trade and Industrial Education – Automotive, Construction, Digital Media, Drafting, Emergency Medical Technician, and Firefighter Technology.

Within each program area, students have the opportunity to earn industry recognized credentials ensuring employers of potential employees’ skillsets. Credentials such as the Career Readiness Certificate, Microsoft Office Specialist, Adobe Certified User, Society of Automotive Excellence, A+, ServeSafe and National Center for Construction Education and Research provide an additional degree of excellence for our students.
For years CTE has been helping students understand how to apply core education concepts in English, math and science through the development of workforce skills in a variety of career areas. As an added bonus, CTE has a positive impact on students’ decisions to graduate. Students who have completed at least 4 CTE courses in high school have higher graduation rates compared with those who have not taken CTE courses. In 2013, North Carolina’s total graduation rate was 82.5%.However, the graduation rate for North Carolina students enrolled in CTE courses was 93.7%. Even better, Craven County students enrolled in CTE programs had an astounding graduation rate of 95.7%.
Our partnership with North Carolina’s Eastern Region and regional aerospace industries has been touted by the US Department of Education as being a model for the nation. We seek to expand our partnerships by seeking the valuable input from business and industry in the design and delivery of relevant and rigorous curriculum to the future workforce of Craven County and Eastern North Carolina.