APTOS -- Students from eight area high schools will benefit from the state's newly launched "Linked Learning" pilot program, whose goal is to ensure they are prepared for college and careers where job growth has been identified.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 790, "Career Technical Education: Linked Learning Pilot Program," into law in October 2011, and officials have spent the ensuing months putting the components into place, said Darrell Parsons, a consultant with the state Department of Education. The bill establishes test sites at 20 high schools across California where courses are "linked" to careers through technical instruction, academics taught in the context of specific careers, apprenticeships and student support services.
Officials will spend the rest of this school year planning their proposed programs, with plans for full implementation starting in 2013-14, Parsons said.
But Santa Cruz County high schools have something of a head start. The eight high schools, ranging from Pajaro Valley and San Lorenzo Valley to Santa Cruz and Aptos, are all part of the Santa Cruz County College Commitment, or S4C, launched to not only get more area students into careers and college, but also ensure they succeed once there. The consortium, which also includes area elementary and middle schools and higher education institutions, launched informally in late 2011 and worked on an ad hoc basis until June, when Cabrillo's Ray Kaupp was named its executive director.
Applying to be part of the pilot program, he said, was more a way to position S4C for future funding opportunities from private foundations and the state, once money becomes available. No funding is associated with the "Linked Learning" program, but the state Department of Education will link the high schools with experts in a variety of high-demand fields.
In its application, S4C proposed creating a program under the unifying theme, "Water: Rivers to the Bay."
"No one else proposed a particular theme like they did," Parsons said.
Area superintendents came up with the idea, Kaupp said, because it was a way of unifying the districts under a common banner. By operating under a theme, "it would be easier to have events across districts that were countywide events," he said, adding possibilities include holding a countywide science fair to showcase students' water-related projects.
Cabrillo, which is spearheading the S4C program, just found out last week that it had been selected to participate in the program, and details for the rest of this school year are still being worked out. Meanwhile, Kaupp said, officials will work to obtain funding to support the program.