On March 14, the National Academy of Finance (NAF), State of Michigan, and Deputy Superintendent of DPSCD came to visit King to get a closer view of the three pathways: Medicine, Management and Marketing (Sports M3), Computer Information Systems and Commerce (CISC), and Math, Science and Applied Technology (MSAT).
“Michigan Department of Education helps to fund a lot of schools in the district or in the state of Michigan and we’re also in charge of the curriculum or the standards related to what you learn,” said Michigan Department of Education Chief Deputy Superintendent Sue Carnell.
The pathways help students with career readiness and expose them to career paths.
“I think it’s important to figure out what you want to do as well as what you don’t want to do and each of the academics here is the sweet spot,” said DPSCD Deputy Superintendent Alycia Meriweather. “The place they cross is exposing students to careers and helping students learn what they like and don’t like for their future plans.”
Crusaders that are members of the pathways had an opportunity to give presentations. Also, each student group answered questions posed by the onlookers.
“I think the best way to learn about what’s happening is to talk to students,” Meriweather said. “When you can hear straight from students it helps you understand their experience.”
For instance, the CISC program that focuses on finance in school is an elective that students can take. This class focuses on all types of finance including budgeting and accounting.
“It [CISC] incorporates business and shows how to work finances and the different stages of it,” junior and NAF program member Lavaughn Milton said.
The M3 pathway is mostly known as the sports related pathway. This gives knowledge to students that are interested in sports, physical therapy, athletic training, and strength coaching. This allows students to get hands-on experiences.
“Students can take what they learned and apply it to a real-world situation,” M3 program lead teacher Dan Wolford said.
The MSAT program focuses on engineering and robotics, which can be fun and informational at the same time.
“The one thing about robotics is that it’s fun. It’s like a club so it’s hands on. We’re not going to pull out a textbook and ask you to look at a math problem. We’re going to think about how to solve things from applied technology. That’s that AT in MSAT,” MSAT program lead teacher Carrie Russell said.
King has various opportunities for students. Many people do not know about the pathways. These programs could open doors to sustainable careers.
“I think there are so many great things that are going on at King but unfortunately sometimes people don’t know about it,” principal Damian Perry said.
