Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Career Technical Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Middle and high school students showcase career-exploration and Virtual Enterprise programs
Summary
Students from Dorothy McElhaney Middle School and Murrieta Valley High presented hands‑on Career Explorers modules and Virtual Enterprise firms to the school board, demonstrating cosmetology, dentistry, EMT training and student-run business simulations; teachers asked for community partnerships to translate virtual work into real opportunities.
Students and teachers presented two complementary career-technical education efforts to the Murrieta Valley Unified Board on Nov. 18, underscoring hands‑on learning and industry preparation across middle and high schools.
Dorothy McElhaney Middle School Principal Heather Just introduced teacher Solomon Petchers, who described a Career Explorers elective that lets sixth through eighth graders try modules including cosmetology, dentistry, materials processing, emergency medicine, sports medicine, alternative energy and game development. Student Noah said the class “has helped me think about my future differently,” describing activities such as shaving a client’s beard model, drilling and filling a simulated tooth and building a small windmill.
“Paxton Patterson has been a powerful addition to our school,” teacher Solomon Petchers said, explaining that the platform supports independent, self‑paced modules and lets students get hands‑on experience in multiple careers.
At Murrieta Valley High, entrepreneurship teacher Fox Lehi introduced student teams from the Virtual Enterprise program, a simulated-business CTE pathway that teaches entrepreneurship, finance, marketing and management. Student CEOs described running firms that conduct market research, prepare business plans and simulate payroll and contracts while competing in regional trade shows; one team won an elevator‑pitch award at a recent trade show and is preparing for an Inland Empire business‑plan competition on Dec. 3.
“We need the support of our community school district and local businesses to continue to help us learn, compete and win together,” said student Vaughn Kamen, describing a student firm called Dermalize. Fox Lehi told trustees that community partners sometimes mistake student-prepared documents for real contracts, underscoring the need for clearer outreach. He said the program recently secured a partnership with a local spa and described that partnership as “about half $1,000,000,” characterizing the figure as an approximate local investment.
Board members praised the student work, asked how the district can help scale successful programs, and discussed the importance of CTE pathways that create employment and postsecondary choices for students. Trustees and the superintendent noted the programs as exemplars for replicating effective practices at other sites.
Next steps: Teachers and the district’s CTE coordinator will continue outreach to local businesses to build authentic work experiences and clarify the virtual-to-real partnership process.
