Educationally Speaking - Did you know?

“I didn’t know that.” This is a typical response when information is shared with parents and community members about the Career-Technical Education program in our district and, in particular, the Family Consumer Science program.

Courses are offered in the areas of fashion, child development and foods. As one might imagine, students in those courses do learn to prepare and create clothing and healthful food. What you probably don’t know is that there is learning in more areas than those in the Family Consumer Science classes.

Did you know… all Family Consumer Science classes include instruction that supports student learning of basic skills in reading, writing, communication, math, science and social studies?

Did you know… all Family Consumer Science classes provide students with career awareness and employment development skills?

Did you know… both fashion classes (Fashion, Clothing Design & Fashion Merchandizing) are articulated with Palomar College so that students can earn up to six free units of college credit for taking these two courses?

Did you know… student work is presented as part of the Palomar College fashion show and that students participate in two field trips, a walking tour of the Los Angeles Fashion District and a tour of Rodeo Drive?

Did you know… the fashion industry is the second largest industry in the state of California and has a good, prospective job market?

Did you know… the district offers two classes in child development (Child Development and Careers in Child Care)? The Child Development class provides an excellent opportunity for students to be introduced to careers as nurses, educators, doctors and social workers. Students who successfully complete the ROP Child Care Careers course have the option to earn the state ROP level training to enable them to work as a preschool teacher upon course completion.

Did you know… students can also take courses in foods and nutrition and in ROP Restaurant Occupations? Besides learning the basics of food preparation and nutrition, students constantly learn and practice the skills of teamwork, leadership, time management, communication, reliability and responsibility.

Did you know… the ROP Restaurant Occupations program has a student-run restaurant that is open at lunch to high school staff and open to the public in the evenings? During the week of November 17, the restaurant will be open on Monday and Wednesday from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. Entrees planned for those days include home-style tortilla soup, fried calamari, croissant sandwiches and spaghetti with meatballs. Mud pie will be the featured dessert.

Now that you know, here’s how you can help. As parents and community members, we can encourage students to take advantage of these learning opportunities by having them enroll in these classes.

Additionally, we can determine if we have talents and resources that we can share with these students and programs in order to further enrich their quality. There is more to learn than meets the eye at Fallbrook High School.