Students across southern Arizona and Pima County are being offered a chance to learn technical skills to help them build a career while still in high school.
Pima County Joint Technical Education District (JTED) is successfully training hundreds of students in a multitude of career fields.
JTED offers more than 20 programs ranging from culinary arts to aviation technologies. The program is about to enter its third year of operation.
Aaron Ball, executive director of program development, said the most popular programs are cosmetology and the certified nursing assistant program.
The programs are free for students with the exception of the cosmetology program for which students purchase tool kits that they keep after completing the program.
“The idea is that this program will put them into the career pathway,” Ball said.
Ashley Purcell, 19, is one student who found her calling in the cosmetology program.
“This will help me get to where I want to be in life,” said Purcell, a 2009 graduate of Mountain View High School who graduated early from the program. “It was definitely worth it.”
Marilyn Kressin, program manager for JTED’s cosmetology department, was hired to get the program up and running.
The intensive program has senior-level students who take both their regular high school classes, plus cosmetology classes six days a week.
“Students really do have to be dedicated,” Kressin said.
Cosmetology’s first graduating class finishes this summer.
“It’s a very lucrative industry,” Kressin said of cosmetology.
“Time will tell how many students stay with the program, and this will give us more feedback.”
Students have two methods available to them for taking classes. Some programs are offered by their high schools while others require students to travel to the central JTED campus.
“There is a lot of growth in central campuses,” Ball said. “We work with every high school in the county along with charter schools and home school students.”
JTED also partners with Pima Community College and offers students dual enrollment credits for some of the classes.
Ball said if students take classes that lead to certification, such as cosmetology, they may be able to receive their certifications following completion of the classes.
Cosmetology students must have 1,600 hours of experience in order to get certified.
They can also get their licenses before their high school diploma. This allows many students to get a job in their desired career field upon completing high school.
Last November, JTED received more than 1,400 pre-applications. However, not all applicants make it into the programs. But with the number growing, the need for more space is apparent.
A new location is coming this August at East 22nd Street and South Camino Seco.
Ball said they are excited about the addition, because the new location will put JTED within eight miles of several high schools.
