Can a 9th grade student decide what he wants to do for the rest of his life?

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A new career path program launching next year in Cedar Rapids is raising concerns and questions among parents. This week’s meetings became heated at times as parents questioned a new Career Pathways model for Cedar Rapids Schools.

The addition of this program is part of a growing trend in Iowa school districts called “Career Pathways.”

Our i-9 Investigate wanted to see how career paths work at other schools in the region.

The idea is to enable children from the 9th grade onwards to start their careers. Cedar Rapids plans to begin its program with its new freshman class next school year. It’s not the first company in eastern Iowa to offer career opportunities.

Waterloo Community Schools opened the Waterloo Career Center in 2016. The center provides students with a hands-on experience to learn more about what they want to do after high school.

These include programs such as electrical, cosmetology and nursing – in addition to traditional high school math, language, science and more courses.

Across from Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, a greenhouse grows more than just flowers. It’s about turning students in the College Community School District into the next generation of farm workers.

“It allows us to experience these plant science sections and see things growing in real life, whether in the greenhouse or outside in our test plots,” said Adam McCrey.

McCrey is a senior at Prairie High and the current president of the Cedar Rapids/Prairie FFA Chapter. Before high school, he didn’t know what he wanted to do and he didn’t grow up on a farm.

And now…

“I’m thinking about going to Iowa State University to study agronomy and agricultural policy,” McCrey said.

He is part of the Agriculture and Sciences Career Academy. The program was the first of the College Community District’s five academies, joining Arts and Communication, Business and Leadership, Health and Public Service, and Crafts and Engineering.

“The real power is the land it sits on and the 40 acres we have set aside to develop this agriculture program,” said Doug Wheeler, the superintendent of the College Community School District. “The building and the land it sits on will evolve with the program, with the needs of the agricultural industry, but also with the needs of the students and the interest of the students.”

The district chose its career paths based on the careers Eastern Iowa has to offer. The hope is to develop the next generation of workers right here at home.

“Over 40% of jobs in our region are related to agriculture,” Wheeler said. “We let students get into agricultural business, we let them get into agricultural engineering so they can really see the breadth of a field that they can get into and still live and thrive here in Iowa.”

Experts say career path programs can be successful here. Saba Ali from the University of Iowa examined career paths.

“When I did the research in West Virginia, I found that those who wanted skills and a skilled job after high school were able to stay in the location because it fit the industries there,” Ali said.

But can a ninth grader decide for himself what job he wants to have for the rest of his life? Ali says that’s not really the question these teenagers are facing.

“There used to be a time when people would go into a certain industry or a certain job and stay there for 40 years and then of course the company would give them a pension and they would retire and things like that, but we have that “Not.” So there are more and more job and career changes,” said Ali.

Studies suggest that the average American has three to seven careers under their belt before retiring. That’s why early contact with the world of work is crucial for building skills.

At Prairie, students learn what they want to do and what they don’t want to do.

“Even if they want to change a path, it will not be a disadvantage for them. “They may not have an extra year to get into something they really enjoy, but without that path they might have gone to college and spent a year doing something they weren’t interested in and that is expensive,” Wheeler said.

Providing these routes is not cheap either. Ali said it’s more common for larger districts with more resources to offer them.

“Certainly larger districts sometimes have more money and resources to provide these things, and therein lie some concerns and issues about the quality of the programs. If a school district has more resources, it can offer a wider range of training and potentially better types of training, Ali said.

For this reason, the Waterloo Career Center accepts students from 12 other counties.

“We like to talk to kids about going into the workplace or going to college after high school, you’re going to be working with people you don’t know and really learning what it looks like to be able to work together as a high school student. “Among the 20 programs we offer at the Career Center, I think it’s really a benefit for kids,” said Amy Miehe, director of career and technical education at the Waterloo Career Center.

Help more students discover their future like McCrey.

“I think it gave me a deeper level of knowledge so I know what I want to do, which means I’m ready to go to Iowa State knowing exactly what I want to do so I can have a better chance “Taking part in the courses there will be necessary and important for my future,” said McCrey.

Cedar Rapids plans to run its program a little differently, with each high school having different academies. This was the trigger for most questions from parents about topics such as changing schools and transportation.

The next meeting for the Cedar Rapids Pathways program is Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at Washington High School.

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