At Coronado Unified School District we are pleased to announce that we are currently in the planning stages of adding new credit bearing internships at our high school. These efforts are being accelerated thanks to new grant funding from the California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT). We are a part of a consortium of fourteen school districts and five community colleges awarded the grant. The total awarded amount comes in at over $13 million to be distributed between the participating schools.
At Coronado High School, our top priority with this grant is to fund internship opportunities for our students.
This mission coincides perfectly with the overarching purpose of the CCPT, which is to be innovative in preparing college and career ready students. Approaching education differently and valuing personalized learning experiences is something we value very highly at CUSD.
We believe that internships and advanced coursework play a key role in allowing students to broaden their learning experience. In our experience, equipping students with tangible career insights at age 17 (before college) is instrumental compared to age 22 (after college).
Most times, the internship solidifies a student’s decision. The majority of our students completing an internship end up going into that field in college or directly into that career track.
At CUSD, we are very excited to expand on the current success of our internship and advanced programs.
Coronado High offers an advanced sports medicine program that places students in Sharp Coronado Hospital once a week. This innovative program gives students the ability to shadow a majority of different departments in the hospital.
Another current program is our woodworking course. Students can actually achieve college credits from the University of California upon completing two advanced courses. This blend of fine art with technical skills gives students a first-hand look at a career in furniture making, carpentry, and more.
Building on these two programs, we are already allocating a portion of the grant to creating two new courses. One will be on software design for gaming and the other will focus on clean energy engineering solutions.
This future expansion of programs will only enhance learning opportunities. Additionally, we look forward to providing support to students who develop their own internships in the community for internship placements.
These types of programs place students in the driver’s seat for their education. Ultimately, it helps us achieve our goal of providing the best education for our students.
