The Career & Technical Education Department of Durfee High School is at the forefront in the schools efforts to allow students to explore career paths and succeed in the 21st Century. Presently, the program offers five traditional vocational paths. Also, every student can choose from nine career education pathways that can be accessed through elective choices. The department is in the process of developing 3 more vocational pathways from the existing career education curriculum.
Chapter 74 Funded PATHWAYS offered are:
• Cosmetology - Program Information Page
• Culinary Arts - Program Information Page
• Early Child Development - Program Information Page
• Health Assistant - Program Information Page
• Design & Visual Communications - Program Information Page - Student Page
Career Education (Elective) Offerings:
• Electronics
• Engineering Technician
• Environmental Engineering Technician
• Computer Graphics
• Networking
• Medical Terminology
• TV and Radio
• Web Development
• Wood Technologies
Faculty:
Health Assistant
Anne Cabucio - acabucio@fallriverschools.org
Pamela Pittman - ppittman@fallriverschools.org
Cosmetology
Kerry Torres - ktorres@fallriverschools.org
Heidi Gubala - hgubala@fallriverschools.org
Culinary Arts
Mary Dupont - mdupont@fallriverschools.org
Paul Bertoncini - pbertonscini@fallriverschools.org
Early Childhood Development
Urania Carreiro-Ferreira - uferreira@fallriverschools.org
Kathleen Garcia - kgarcia@fallriverschools.org
Design & Visual Communication
Rene Gagnon - rgagnon@fallriverschools.org
Electives
Dunse, Robert rdunse@fallriverschools.org
Falcon, Mark mfalcon@fallriverschools.org
Griffin, James jgriffin@fallriverschools.org
McGrath, Pauline pmcgrath@fallriverschools.org
Medeiros, Raymond Jr. rmedeiros@fallriverschools.org
CVTE and Durfee's Mission Statement:
The Vocational Education Department exposes the students to a Rigorous Learning Environment based on the extensive set of Vocational Technical Education Frameworks from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Completing the competencies in the time allowed provides a challenging learning environment for all students. The department is establishing a level of accountability by tracking student competencies. The fulfillment of each standard is recorded using Vocational Technical Competency Tracking System (VTCTS) which is can be accessed on the Massachusetts DOE Website.
Through the development of the Durfee Discovery program, students are provided with an Equitable learning environment that allows them to explore each of the schools 20 different pathways. The program includes 6 subject areas from the Arts and Music Electives. This exposure often cultivates an interest that leads the student to explore a career path through an elective class or a vocational program.
Durfee's pathways are inclusive; many of the career skills require the student to take variety of subjects from various departments. A pathway will often expand across the school’s entire curriculum. To make this undertaking possible, the department has been involved in a collaborative effort with the guidance department, to assure that career guidance is an integral part of counseling each student.
The Career and Technical Education Department of Durfee High School provides a means for the students to find purpose in their educational endeavors. Research has shown that high schools students often see the importance of academics when exposed to work based learning offered through an innovative pathway structure. By offering 14 career paths that could lead to a well-paying job, many students see a clear goal in the education process. Each student is given empowerment in that they have the biggest role in the decision process of choosing a pathway. Their choice is based on the talents and interests that they cultivated during Durfee Discovery.
By contributing to the community’s effort to provide a well trained workforce, the department is assuming an essential role in meeting the school system’s responsibility to the community to support local industry. However, the task of getting both the students, parents and staff to embrace this concept, has required a great amount of diligence. The department goal is to continue to develop pathways to better serve the needs of the Durfee High School student population.
Design & Visual Communications:
Senior Design & Visual Communication student Kevin Chenet was surprised today when he found out that his T-Shirt design for the annual SkillsUSA Massachusetts State T-Shirt Competition was selected as the winner. Kevin's design was selected from over 160 submissions from vocational schools throughout Massachusetts. His design will be entered into the National Competition in Kansas City. READ THE STORY - HERALD NEWS
Health Assistant:
The senior Health Assistant students have just completed their eight week clinical affiliation at Southpointe Rehabilitation & Skilled Care Center where they put their nursing and communication skills to practice. The experience was so enjoyable the students were saddened to leave this clinical rotation, they have grown very attached to the residents on the Arborside unit. The Health Assistant students are now eligible to take the American Red Cross Nurse Assistant test for certification.
Early Education & Care II:
The Juniors are presently working with the preschool children on a daily basis on a variety of curriculum experiences. I presently have four Junior doing a short affiliation rotation in a Special Needs class at Durfee and at Y.P.L.C working with Infants and Toddlers.
Culinary Arts:
Chef Bertoncini the bakeshop instructor calls the project Holiday Gingerbread Houses. "The great part about the project is that all four classes participated in the project" The students used homemade gingerbread, coconut for snow, shredded wheat for the roof and chimney pretzels for the fences.
