Instructor Sylvain Lebrun teaching sophomore students welding techniques in the Welding Metal Fabrication program. — Photo courtesy of SHS CTE Department

By Bridget Frawley

Somerville High School offers 14 career pathways for students enrolled in their Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. The CTE program is considered a Chapter 74 program, so it abides by course guidelines outlined by the state of Massachusetts and are overseen by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“The intended purpose is to prepare our students for either college or career,” Assistant Principal and Director of CTE James Hachey said. “Our students, when they leave here, they’re ready for the world of work, or we’re preparing them to go on to a two- or four-year school.”

This year, 798 students are enrolled, including Full Circle students, an alternative school connected to the high school. This is an increase from two years ago when 634 students were enrolled and last year when 687 students were enrolled.

Students enrolled in CTE programs apply their experience in either college or a career. For the class of 2023, about 57% of students went to college, with 43% of those students majoring in a study related to their CTE program.

“The program benefits the students by building a future,” Hachey said. “We always say, ‘(We are) building (the community’s) future one student at a time.’”

Freshman students participate in an exploratory program of 17 rotations over a minimum six-day period. Students spend a little over a week in each of the programs in addition to Embedded Health, Careers and College and Career programs. By the end of the year, students choose which CTE program they want to pursue for their remaining three years.

The number of classes students take for their CTE program increases each year, and by graduation enrolled students have acquired over 900 hours in their respective program. Students take classes for their CTE program while taking their academic classes. Academic requirements are also embedded in CTE program curricula, including Cosmetology which relates science concepts to the profession. Students learn the science behind hair, skin and nails, along with understanding diseases and disorders clientele can have so they know how to best service them.

“I​​t’s such a great opportunity for students to learn more about interaction and communication with people,” Cosmetology instructor Grace Torino said. “The one thing that we like to enforce is to see how they change someone’s life with just having them sit in your chair. It can have a superficial aspect to it, you’re caring about your looks, but sometimes you’re there helping someone go through the hardest point in their lives.”

The Cosmetology program is fully licensed, so it is equivalent to a beauty school. The 50 students enrolled engage with a curriculum that follows the Massachusetts State Board of Cosmetology, so they are prepared to earn certification as a cosmetologist upon graduation when they can test for their licensure.

Alongside the curriculum, students in the program practice with machinery and equipment housed at the school, including a clinic that is open to the public two days a week for salon services.

“When I have clients sit in my chair and they have such a big smile because they feel so good about themselves, it makes me feel so good about me, and I want to give that back to people,” Torino said. “It’s a fuzzy, warm feeling type of opportunity that I tell the students ‘I can’t explain it until you experience it for the first time.’”

The CTE program coincides with Somerville High School’s Cooperative Education program, allowing students to enter the workforce in an occupation related to their CTE program. The Plumbing program is partnered with the Metropolitan Plumbing Supply in Somerville which has hired students on co-op to work during their designated plumbing classes.

“Having everything within Somerville High School means students get exposed to all these great careers without actually having to make a choice to leave their friends behind,” Plumbing instructor Jim McGrath said. “I think it’s given them a great opportunity to be exposed to a career that they might not even have known was an option for them.”

Hachey said he wants to increase community partnerships to connect students with more occupational opportunities. Currently, students enrolled in the Health Careers program go to local long-term care and assisted living facilities, students in the Dental Assistant program practice in dental offices and Early Education students apply the curriculum’s teachings in city classrooms. Hachey is trying to connect with Habitat for Humanity to have students in Plumbing, Electrical, Carpentry, and HVAC to help build a house.

“I just see our CTE programs and the high school continue to flourish over the next several years,” Hachey said. “Hopefully someday we can have all 1,400 students in CTE.”