Delaware Area Career Center

Earlier this year all sophomore students participated in presentation sessions by the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC) and then had the opportunity to join in a field trip to explore the DACC in person.  In just over a month we will begin the registration process for next year’s classes and I wanted to remind all students about the great opportunities available at the career center.

Students who attend the DACC are still WKHS students.  You can still participate in Kilbourne sports, clubs, dances and most students split their time between academic classes at WKHS and elective classes at DACC.  Depending on what year you graduate all students must earn either 5 or 6 credits of electives in order to graduate.  The reality is that many students are interested in taking hands-on electives in a range of areas that interest them and unless it is an elective within one of the core fields, we don’t have a large number of choices for students within our building.  However, the partnership with DACC provides a wonderful opportunity for students to get hands on experiences in a field while completing their elective requirements.

My students who have attended the DACC have loved it!  They like the opportunity to push themselves in an area, the chance to determine if a career field is right for them, and to learn in different ways than the traditional classroom setting.  Each time I step foot into a DACC lab, I am impressed by all the things that students are doing.  Whether it was building sheds, welding, driving fire trucks, playing with kids, repairing cars, cooking & serving food, participating in research on animals at the zoo, teaching, or reporting about their internship experiences, all of the students were engaged and thriving.

Most of the programs at the Delaware Area Career Center are 2 year programs for students to complete their junior and senior years, but there are some sophomore programs and some senior only programs.   The teacher academy is one of the senior only programs that used to be housed at WKHS.  Hopefully there will be enough interest next year that this program will be able to return to our campus as this program allows WKHS students who are interested in being teachers to go out and have experiences in different settings working as a teacher.  Additionally, one of the other impressive senior only programs is the pre-professional internship.  With this program seniors have the chance to go out and participate in 3 or 4 internships throughout the entire school year.  My students who have participated in this program in the past reported that it was very valuable in helping them determine what fields they liked or disliked before they ended up in college with a  major in a field that they ultimately would have disliked.

If you didn’t participate in the field trip back in November and would still like to learn more about the opportunities at the Delaware Area Career Center you can still visit!  They have second look days coming up on January 23, February 20, and March 6^th where you can visit one of the DACC campuses and spend time in the labs seeing what the students in that program are doing on a day-to-day basis.  Also, if your parents are interested in learning more about the Delaware Area Career Center, they will be hosting an Open House this week on Thursday, January 24^th from 5 – 8pm. 

For more information about Delaware Area Career Center programs, please visit their website at www.delawareacc.org.