ROC Junior High Summer Camp 2018
Junior High students recently had an opportunity to explore a variety of careers during week long summer camps offered at the Kern High School Districts (KHSD) Regional Occupational Center (ROC). For the third year in a row the KHSD and the Fruitvale School District have co-sponsored the camps through a joint grant they were awarded through the California Department of Education. This year the ROC administration wanted to open up the camps to any students in the greater Bakersfield area that wanted to attend, which has caused an increase in enrollment, with over 300 students getting an opportunity to attend one of the eight program offerings. Eva Morales, Fruitvale Junior High Summer School Principal, stated, “This opportunity has provided the junior high students with the experience and knowledge about the CTE classes offered at the ROC. Our students have come each week with excitement for what they will learn in class and leave eager to learn more.”
Students had an opportunity to choose between the following following eight programs that were offered over three weeks during June: Computer Tech, Plant Production, Intro to Coding, Robotics, Entrepreneurship, Money Matters, World of Pharmacy, and Intro to Collision Repair. The programs were all designed to get students to start thinking about careers in the given industry through engaging and interactive instruction. As quoted by the Association for Career Technical Education’s executive summary on Career Exploration, “Research has identified middle school as a time when students can benefit the most from career exploration.” Will Provensal, a student camper said, “I really like it. You learn multiple things throughout the weeks because you focus on different subjects and interests.”
The ROC administration and staff are thrilled to be able to provide students with an opportunity to get excited about a variety of careers and hope to see many of these students attend a high quality ROC program during their junior and senior year in high school. As the ROC moves forward with building amazing new facilities to expand the programming options, this will only mean that more students in our community will be able to take advantage of these incredible opportunities in the years to come.