By: Features Staff

A career pathway is a career-themed program available at a high school. An academy is another term used at individual schools to describe career pathways. Pathways can be used to bring you closer to your desired career. Everyone has chosen a teacher to ask specific questions about their pathway.

Business, Technology and Entrepreneurship Pathway

The Business and Technology pathway allows students to learn about the business world through hands-on and interactive experiences. Students learn how to be productive employees and good stewards of their opportunities. They gain experience with computer software, leadership, entrepreneurship, and marketing. Mrs. McWhorter teaches this pathway at LHS. When asked about why her pathway is important to LHS students she stated, “I believe that all students can benefit from Business Training. No matter what you choose to do in your life outside of high school, you will need the skills that are taught in this pathway. It is one of the only true cross-curricular pathways available. Nurses need to learn customer service and computer skills, cosmetologists need to learn entrepreneurial skills and how to market….anyone can benefit from taking the courses in the business pathway!”

In the Entrepreneurship pathway, students learn how to create products, market them, price, sell, and maintain inventory. Students are 100 percent responsible for the functioning of the real-life business that we run out of our school. This school-based business is called Rambler Customs.

The three classes in the Business and Technology pathway include: Introduction to Business and Technology, Business and Technology 2, and Business Communications. Pathway completers may take Entrepreneurship as a 4th elective.

The classes in the Entrepreneurship pathway include: Introduction to Business and Technology, Legal Environment of Business, and Entrepreneurship.

The Allied Health and Medicine Pathway

Mrs. Langford teaches the Allied Health and Medicine Pathway. She stated, “The Allied Health and Medicine pathway exposes students to the many health science careers as well as employability, communication, and technology skills necessary in the healthcare industry. Some topics include human growth and development, interaction with patients and family members, health, wellness, and preventative care, as well as the legal and ethical responsibilities of today’s healthcare providers.

Basic healthcare skills are developed including microbiology, basic life support, first aid, and safety. We also focus on developing the problem-solving and decision-making skills required in the fast-paced healthcare industry.

The Healthcare Science CTSO is HOSA - Future Health Professionals. HOSA promotes leadership and provides competitive event opportunities at the local, state, and national levels. This year, our LHS chapter has organized blood and convalescent plasma drives, filled local food pantries, volunteered with Backpack Blessings, and hosted the Pink Out football game for breast cancer awareness.

If you are contemplating a career in the healthcare field, consider the healthcare pathway!” The pathway creates opportunities for students to experience healthcare and science at the same time.

Dental Science

The dental science pathway is an introduction into the world of dentistry! Even if a student does not think they are interested in dentistry as a potential career, it is a great way to be exposed to healthcare information valuable for everyday life. Students learn employability skills like communication, professionalism, and the basics of healthcare science in Intro to Healthcare. The next class in the pathway, Dental Science, begins to focus on general dental anatomy and terminology, as well as some hands-on aspects of dentistry. The final class in the pathway, Dental Science II, is designed to place students in a hands-on learning environment where they can experience short-term internships and procedures that can be completed in a lab setting.

At the end of the pathway, students will have the basic skills that they need to begin working in a dental office as a dental assistant, sterilization technician,or receptionist. For the students looking to apply to college, this is an early head start for them. The steps Dental healthcare takes all begin with basics that you would start with at college. This program is taught by Mrs. Jenkins.

Emergency Services

Emergency Services is another popular pathway offered at LHS. Level one focuses on the intro to emergency services. The level 2 class focuses on fire fighting skills and gets the students off to a good start on being Firefighter 1 certified. Level 3 is emergency medical responder. This is a very intensive first aid course.

Students wishing to enter the medical or fire services field will have a head start on their training. These classes use a lot of skills they use in the actual profession. Many students are very interested in working in the field and taking advantage of the opportunity to learn the skills needed prior to graduating high school. This program is lead by Officer Fouts.

Agriculture

The AG pathway is a class for students to learn aboutAgriculture and animals. There are many opportunities in scholarships and careers with this pathway. Agriculture is a very important industry. Mrs. Wilhoite explains it very well, “Agriculture is a type of science that is used in everyone's everyday life! Without agriculture, no one would even be able to eat or put clothes on their body and even have a roof over their head.”

There are so many different careers in AG some of the pathways include: Animal science, plant science, forestry, wildlife management, agribusiness, soil science, natural resources, aquaculture, small animal care, veterinary science, agricultural mechanics, food science, horticulture, agronomy, etc… There is a 3-ring model of AG, and they are Classroom/lab, FFA (Future Farmers of America), and SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience).

At LaFayette High School we offer many different pathways. To start your AG experience you must take basic Agricultural Science. In this class, you will receive a general idea of what agriculture is and from there you can decide where you would like to branch off to next. What’s even better is that you will be able to leave school for multiple days at a time for competitions and competition meets. If you have additional questions you can see Mrs. Wilhoite, in room #502.