It’s never the wrong time to get a head start in a career field you are interested in. And Kern High School District students are given the opportunity of hands-on learning in different careers at the Regional Occupation Center all year long.
There are 27 different skills at ROC that students can learn about; and today students competed in all of the skills they have learned throughout the year. Today was the 21st Annual Olympic Skills Competition. More than 800 high school juniors and seniors competed against each other in their selected career education programs by showing they have mastered certain skills.
Hands-on career options range from medical and dental assisting, “I have always wanted to work in the dental field and when I heard they had dental assisting at roc I just felt it was an amazing opportunity to get a head start in my career,” said Cindy Zelaya, a dental assistant student. To ag diesel, “I am going into the industry of engineering as well so I can take this knowledge what I learned from here and move it over to other industries like that,” said Lucas Crowe, an ag diesel student. And even banking and finance. “It’s something I’ve always been interested in, and when this gives me the opportunity in high school which I can’t really get this experience anywhere else,” said Manuel Felix, a business, banking and finance student.
Each student in the ROC program can apply at their school to be part of the program; and must have perfect attendance and discipline to participate in this hands-on career learning program. The students say that the dedication is worth the experience they receive. “It’s a big head start, coming in I had no type of communication skills whatsoever so it doesn’t matter what class you’re in you’re gonna learn how to talk to people and the skills necessary to start in your career,” said Zelaya.
