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Clovis Unified
School District 's Regional Occupational
Program
By L. Landon Easley |
CUSD Today
Posted on August 14, 2011 |
Program has many causes to celebrate successes
As the
2010-11 school year draws to a close, Clovis Unified’s
Regional Occupation Program (ROP) isn’t slowing down.
The ever-growing program, which introduced seven new
classes this year, is celebrating a variety of
accomplishments and successes this spring.
Photo courtesy CUSD Today | Slideshow by JoAnne
Green
Some of the celebrations
on the roster include the addition of a significant
learning tool, a functional 1992 fire engine, to
supplement the Fire Fighting Technology program; the
grand opening of the Construction Technology program at
Clovis High; and a very unique student-driven
collaboration in which students from two separate ROP
courses came together to teach each other the skills
they have learned.
CUSD’s ROP
program currently offers 24 different
classes open to district juniors and seniors ages 16 and
older. All courses, which provide high school credit
with some also providing college credit, are held for a
minimum of two periods per day, Monday through Friday,
and are available at all CUSD comprehensive high
schools.
Each high
school campus also includes ROP “career pathways,” or
specialized fields of study.
Environmental Technology pathway at Buchanan;
Agriculture Mechanics pathway at Clovis East;
Construction Technology pathway at Clovis High; Heath
Science and Medical Technology pathway at Clovis North;
and Vehicle Maintenance and Repair pathway at Clovis
West.
Within
each of these individual pathways are a variety of ROP
classes which complement one another to the benefit of
participating students who, upon graduation, are
well-versed in all aspects of their chosen career
pathway.
Classes provide students with the opportunity to explore
different careers by actually participating in the
particular industry. “Here at CUSD our ROP students are
developing those important skills needed for today’s
highly competitive job market,” said Gregory Lomack,
Ed.D., learning director on special assignment, school
to work/ROP. “Whether or not they choose to go on to
college, which is highly recommended, these ROP classes
are designed also to prepare them for continuing
education after high school. ROP also offers a wide
range of additional educational benefits, including
college credit for qualifying courses, industry
certification, and internships when appropriate.”
Following are some of the most recent developments in
the ROP family of courses.
Fire Fighting Technology
Housed on the Clovis East High campus is ROP program,
Fire Fighting Technology,
led by teacher
Michael McColm, a reserve firefighter who also teaches
Emergency Medicine and Criminal Investigation ROP
classes.
The Fire Fighting Technology course is one of only a
dozen of its kind offered in all of
California’s
high schools. In its first year, the class is comprised
of
35 male students who come from four district high
schools.
Just last month, the Fresno Fire Department donated a
fully
operational 1992 fire engine
to the program for $1. McColm, the students in the class
and ROP administrators will hold a special celebration
May 12 from 8 a.m. to noon to express their appreciation
for the valued acquisition. The community is invited to
attend.
“The donation of the engine is a huge addition to the
program,” said McColm. “Not only does it allow the
students a more realistic opportunity, but it builds a
sense of pride and ownership in the program as well. We
all take great pride in the donation and are very
thankful to Fresno Fire.”
Community Donations like the Fresno Fire Department’s
fire engine have been critical to the class’ success.
While funding for the class has been made possible
through an ROP grant from the Fresno County Office of
Education, the “extras” that have supplemented the
curriculum have come in the way of donations.
Turnouts (sets
of heavy firefighter clothing),
fire hoses, breathing gear and other items critical to
fire fighting have been donated by Cal Fire and Fresno,
Clovis, Fowler and Shaver Lake fire departments.
So far this year, the
Fire Fighting Technology students have participated in
search and rescue training in Sequoia National Park and
took a trip to San Francisco to view the unique fire
boats there and learn about the San Francisco Fire
Department. At a fieldtrip to the Fresno Fire
Department, students were able to practice in the
training tower and confined space rescue underground
prop. In addition, speakers from Cal Fire, Clovis Fire,
Fresno Fire and California Arson Investigators have
given presentations in the class.
At the end of the course, students can take a test that,
if passed, will earn them wild land firefighting
certificates and may qualify them to work for state or
national park services. Next year, McColm hopes to add a
second level of firefighter training to the class so
more experienced students can earn additional
certifications, allowing this year’s six juniors to
increase their knowledge and become leaders for next
year’s new students.
Construction Technology
Clovis High School
is home to the Construction Technology pathway which
includes Architectural Engineering, Building Trades and
Electronic Systems Technology (EST) courses. John “Jay”
Eichmann oversees the pathway’s instruction.
From the beginning, Eichmann’s
goal for the program has been to teach students the
basic skills required in many of the skilled trades; to
teach them work ethic, teamwork and career exploration;
and, above all, to expose them to the pleasure of
looking at a completed project and being able to say “I
built that.”
One way that sense of satisfaction and accomplishment is
taking place in this career pathway is through the
school year-long student project, “Crewgar Estates,”
five full-scale small (8-by-12-foot) houses built by the
ROP students on the Clovis High campus.
Nearing completion, water is now running through the
plumbing fixtures and the lights are on.
Crewgar Estates, as well as other pathway achievements,
can be viewed at the Construction Technology Grand
Opening, celebrating the pathway’s first year, on May
12, 1:30-2:30 p.m. in Clovis High’s H-wing.
Eichmann said he is proud that the program’s inaugural
year has had a very positive start, affirmed by
students. “Thanks to the awesome construction teachers
at Clovis High, I obtained the experience needed to
succeed in the construction business and the knowledge
to get the job,” said student Jonathan Morrow.
“One of the most important things I learned this year
would probably be that I am much more capable than I
would have thought before this class,” added student
Neal P.
Bourzac.
Many
of the students have taken full advantage of the unique
aspects of the class from exploring careers and college
through fieldtrips to Fresno City College and the State
Center Consortium’s Apprenticeship Workshop held March
24, to working with local contractors on actual jobsites
such as the remodeling of the Old Town Saloon at Clovis
Avenue
and Fifth Street.
“One of the best parts of the program,” Eichmann said,
“is working with the motivated students. Students who
make the time in their schedules to participate in one
of these ROP pathway classes are developing clarity in
their life interest. Simply put, they are in the class
because they want to be there and they work with the
full understanding that their presence in the class is
also a unique privilege.”
As the program continues to develop, more industry
partners are stepping up to get involved with community
classroom opportunities and donating equipment. “We are
always in need of some of the basic components of
residential framing and are always on the lookout for
salvageable electronic items for the EST class,” said
Eichmann. “Thanks to some attentive maintenance
partners, we have been able to recover items from the
scrap yard and put them to use in our campus project.”
Careers with Children
Cynthia
Huerta’s Careers with Children (CWC) ROP course at
Clovis High is designed to prepare students to work in
occupations related to young children.
The course covers the developmental stages of children
from birth to age 8.
In addition, four days per week, each student in the
class goes to his or her assigned preschool, daycare
center or elementary school site, working directly with
children. The ROP students learn the organization and
procedures of the business, as well as techniques for
instructing, guiding and caring for young children.
“The ROP Careers with Children class has opened many
doors for me. It helped me to get a job and to practice
my skills with children,” said Xitlalic Lopez, a Clovis
High junior. Students say that having the ROP experience
has helped them build their resume and given them
confidence in job interviews.
The CWC
students are not the only ones to benefit from their
work experience through the class. Not only do the
children they serve respond well to them, the teachers
they work with are grateful for their help and support.
“My ROP student is a life-saver,” said one elementary
teacher. “I don’t know what I would do without her. My
students love her and she has helped me tremendously.”
This spring has seen a very unique collaboration between
CWC students and the students in Clovis East High
teacher Michael McColm’s
Fire Fighting, Emergency Medicine
and Medical Careers courses.
McColm’s
students taught hands-on first aid training to the CWC
students, a critical component to being well-versed in
childcare. The students demonstrated how to properly
administer the Heimlich maneuver, assist when a person
is unconscious, proper splinting techniques, and how to
treat a burn, scrape, and a fractured bone, as well as
what to do if a person goes into shock.
The CWC students were able to practice these techniques
with the guidance of McColm’s trained students.
“It was a win-win situation,” said Huerta. “Mr. McColm’s
students were able to use their skills to help others,
while the Careers with Children students were able to
‘learn by doing’ to cover one of their competencies.”
Yearbook Publication
The Buchanan High School Yearbook Publication ROP class
has cause to celebrate as two of their collaborators
were recently honored for their contributions to the
yearbook class. Teacher Sarah Hanson nominated Tom
Larson and Kelly Larson, representatives through their
affiliation with Herff-Jones Publishing, for a 2011
William F. Noli
Outstanding Service
Award. The award is given by the Fresno
County Office of Education and its Fresno ROP program to
local organizations or individuals who significantly
contribute to career technical education.
Hanson nominated the Larsons because “as my Herff-Jones
Publishing Company representatives for fourteen years,
Tom and Kelly have been instrumental in the production
of the Buchanan High School Endeavor yearbook,” she
said. “With Tom and Kelly’s support, the creation of the
Endeavor became a valuable experience for students as
well as a successful business venture.” The two men were
honored among four other award recipients April 12 at
Fresno ROP’s
Annual Advisory Committee Night at
CUSD’s Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall.
Students enrolled in Yearbook Publication learn
journalistic writing, layout and production of student
publications, with the major course project being the
designing, publishing and marketing of the Buchanan High
yearbook.
For more information on the district’s ROP program,
contact the CUSD ROP Office at
327-9151 or any high school counselor.
This article was originally
published in CUSD Today, May 2011, and is
published on
ExperienceClovis.com Online Independent Community
Magazine with permission. Photos
courtesy of CUSD
All rights reserved.
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