News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Two more high school career pathways in the Putnam County School System have received state certification.
Cookeville High School students will be able to choose Teaching as a Profession and Early Childhood Education Careers pathways. CTE Supervisor Leslie Eldridge said the district offers early career or college experiences.
“We have two great programs in Putnam County that they can choose from if they have that passion and want to go into that career pathway,” Eldridge said. “To say we’ve had it for a few years, yes we have had these programs for a few years, but we are putting more of an emphasis on these pathways because there is such a high demand in this career field.”
Eldridge said the programs qualified by also providing high quality advisement and employer partnerships. Eldridge said students have the opportunity to work in early childhood settings and education in the public sector.
“Also really highlighting the work that teachers are putting into their programs,” Eldridge said. “They add a little bit more each year whether it is work-based learning experiences and the practicums their students are going out being a part of or the post-secondary partnerships that we have with Tennessee Tech or Vol State where students can take dual-enrollment classes.”
Eldridge said the school system went through a rigorous interview process to gain the certification. The minimum score to earn the Certification is 60 points on a 100-point scale. Teaching as a Profession scored a 94 and Early Childhood Education Careers a 96.
“PCSS was also the only district in the Upper Cumberland chosen for a site visit during the pathway certification interview process,” Eldridge said. “Our teachers, Mrs. Stephanie Ross and Mrs. Mandy Rawls did an excellent job highlighting the great opportunities in both pathways. We are grateful to our stakeholders and partners who were a part of the site visit interview process as well.”
The distinction comes down from the Tennessee Pathways Program through the Tennessee Board of Regents and State Department of Education. This is the fourth and fifth Certified Pathways that Putnam County schools have received.
