Meet the New Vo-Techs
Date Posted: August 24, 2018
Posted In: Workforce,
From BDC Network: Anyone looking for the latest trends that are driving K-12 education might turn their attention to the $82 million, 375,000-sf Olathe (Kan.) West High School, which opened last fall in this Kansas City suburb.
One of those trends is project-based learning, and the 900-plus students in Olathe West’s inaugural class were the first to be issued MacBook Air laptops by that school district. The high school includes eight maker spaces, several of which are equipped with 3D printers.
Another national trend is career and technical education, or CTE, which exposes students to real-life experiences more directly. Olathe West has two distinct CTE learning environments: a space for green technologies that includes a green roof, rainwater catchment, solar panels, and a wind tower; and a place for public safety that can accommodate a full-size fire truck and ambulance. In both instances, the school district partnered with the community—including a local community college and the fire department—to help develop and program the spaces. Students participating in the public safety program can graduate with a certificate toward becoming a police officer, firefighter, or emergency medical technician (EMT).
“High schools are now about sculpting careers and giving students choices and experiences before they get to college or the job market,” says Christian Owens, AIA, Design Principal in Stantec’s Austin, Texas, office,
which designed Olathe West in partnership with Hollis+Miller Architects.
As K-12 schools become more specialized, AEC firms must familiarize themselves better with the job trades toward which schools are shifting their curricula and training.
Another recent Stantec project is the 237,000-sf, $67.5 million Ross Shaw Sterling Aviation High School, which the Houston ISD opened in January 2017. The school offers early-college education in business, automotive repair, and aviation training that includes equipment maintenance, flying, and operations management. The school has its own 7,100-sf hangar for two single-engine planes, flight simulators, and movable workstands for mounting up to 17 engines.
Owens quips that some of Sterling’s students graduate with a pilot’s license before they get their driver’s license.