Valley Center Middle School spotlights industrial tech, plans advanced class

Carrie Edwards, principal at Valley Center Middle School, introduced the school's Industrial Tech program and brought teacher Aaron White and several students to the board to show classroom projects. "This is the first year back in the full swing of things," Edwards said, noting the program had gone three years without a full-time teacher.

"I have a Creation by Design class and an Industrial Tech class," Aaron White said, describing plans to add an Advanced Industrial Tech class next semester that will include construction and welding. White said the advanced course will create practical, hands-on opportunities so students "have a lot of skills and a lot of traits that they can take with them later on in life." He introduced students who described projects such as lighted displays, coasters, cutting boards and a golf-tee game.

Edwards told the board 14 students will be added to the advanced class next semester and said the district is working to vertically align middle-school offerings with the high school so students can continue into higher-level technical coursework without redoing introductory electives. She also highlighted extracurriculars and reading initiatives at the middle school, including a morning "drop everything and read" program she said produced more than 300,000 pages read by students as of Dec. 2.

The presentation concluded with board members thanking the teacher and students; one member suggested the golf-tee game could be marketed commercially. The board took no formal action on the presentation.