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Meeting Graduation Standards through MMTC

MHS Sophomores will be attending a presentation by the Mid Maine Technical Center during lunch tomorrow and will be following it up with a tour of their programs of interest on February 6th. This will allow underclassmen to explore the many possibilities offered to them by adding MMTC courses to their schedule during their Junior and Senior years.

Recently, a team of teachers and administrators from MHS have been working to make these courses accessible to more students by identifying graduation standards that can be met through the programs at MMTC.

“By doing this work we are opening up learning opportunities for our students,” said MHS Principal Paula Callan. She gave the example of a student that might be struggling to show proficiency on one or two standards they would typically see in a regular social studies course. If the standards are addressed in the Criminal Justice Program, the student could meet them through that program instead of having to make room in their schedule for another social studies class in order to graduate.

MMTC began looking at the overlap between Career and Technical Education (CTE) standards and academic standards in Math and ELA a few years ago, through a Department of Education initiative. MMTC director Peter Hallen said they had always hoped to continue the work locally if they had a high school willing to work with them.

“Ultimately, what we want is for students enrolled in MMTC to be able to demonstrate academic proficiency through our courses,” said Hallen. “Paula set things in motion at MHS and the project has taken off from there.”

Principal Callan has been working with teachers Laurel Hanson (English), Andrew Haynie (math), Alan Derosby (social studies), and Cathy Gilles (science) on aligning the graduation standards in the four content areas with specific courses at MMTC. So far the group has done work with the Medical Careers program, the Criminal Justice program, the Communication Arts program, and a few of the courses in the Automotive program.

This year, 109 MHS students attend Mid-Maine Technical center as part of their school day. They can enroll in either morning or afternoon courses, are bussed to and from MHS, and can earn up to 2 credits per semesters through the tech center. MMTC offers 25 different career and technical courses at no cost to the students, and students also have the opportunity to earn college credits at no cost.

If you are interested in learning more about the programs available at MMTC and how these courses can help meet graduation standards, contact the Messalonskee Guidance Office for further information.

 

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