An eighth-grade student from East Hardin Middle School presented a Career Pathway Defense to the Hardin County Board of Education during the meeting, part of a district effort to pilot what staff called "defensive learning," a digital-portfolio model that gives students a chance to present learning artifacts and practice public speaking.

Mister Sutton (presenting the academic update) described the pilot as a multi-year transition from a work-ethic certification interview to a digital portfolio that students will develop at the elementary, middle and high-school levels. He said teachers will begin piloting the approach this year and next, and students will present artifacts and reflect on learning in class.

Eighth-grader Mark Carden told the board his career interest is architectural engineering and brought a bag of LEGO bricks as an artifact to illustrate creativity and problem solving. Mark said he has maintained high grades and strong attendance and identified community service as a work-ethic standard he wants to improve.

Board members asked Mark follow-up questions about his alternate career interests, project hopes and coursework; he said he plans to take Engineering A and B at Central Hardin as a freshman. The board praised the student presentation and the district’s pilot plans; no board action was required.

The district said the pilot is intended to scale student presentations across grade levels and to build senior-year portfolios that reflect learning over multiple years.