This paradigm shift manifests through paid internships, dual college credit opportunities, and specialized career-track courses, even in the most remote schools. The district now funds student internships with local businesses, many of which couldn’t otherwise afford to host interns. “We’ve figured out a way to pay those students so they’re getting real-world experience with direct skills as well as soft skills,” Hanks notes.“It gives them a way to feel how the real world works, including showing up and getting a paycheck, while getting experience without making it an economic burden on businesses.” INTEGRATING ACADEMIC CURRICULUM WITH REAL-WORLD SKILLS What distinguishes Gallup-McKinley’s approach is its intentional integration of career skills with traditional academic subjects, a methodology known as “linked learning” in educational circles. “We link the learning from career pathways with science, math, and English,” Hyatt says.“Students get that relevance throughout the curriculum, no matter what course they’re taking. We create a collaborative environment where teachers work together on how to best meet students’ needs through relevance or partnerships, doing projects together that build that relevance.” The district organizes teachers into “school of”, collaborative teams where core subject instructors coordinate with career pathway teachers to create cross-curricular connections. Jack McFarland, Director of College Career and Civic Readiness, explains,“Our English, math, and science teachers are attached to our career classes to help bring relevancy from career classes into their teaching.The student hears the connections all day and can relate to them, seeing how career classes actually work with math, science, English, and history.” The district has also implemented Project Lead the Way programs starting in elementary school, introducing health, engineering, and technology concepts early.They’ve secured funding from the New Mexico legislature to build STEM discovery centers in elementary school resource rooms, working with 4 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 05
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