Every student has a salvation class. When the day has been nothing but awful, or the week has thrown boulder after boulder, there is peace found within the walls of the classroom. It is common for these classes to be a CTE or ROP class. Granada just so happens to teach a few of these salvation classes. 

According to Danielle Watson, the college and career specialist at Granada high school, CTE/ROP classes are “hands-on classes that prepare students to go either directly into a career, or go to college to follow a path within a technical field.” The courses that can be found at Granada include: Developmental Psychology of Children, Introduction to Health Careers, Medical Occupations, Sports Medicine (1 and 2), Integrated Marketing Communications, Introduction to Business Careers, and Economics of Business Ownership. 

To kick off National CTE Month, here are some spotlights of a few different CTE classes that can be found on GHS campus. 

Culinary Arts (Foods):

The culinary arts class, more commonly known as “Foods”, is a popular CTE class on the Granada campus. Being led by Caitlyn Rowland, the main goal of culinary arts is for students to develop the ability to “survive on their own and be able to eat and make functional healthy foods for them and their family as they grow.” 

The culinary arts program is a wonderful program to enroll in if you’re looking to get your feet wet in the culinary world. Spending time making delicious foods, all varying from cookies to guacamole, you’re guaranteed to have a good time. For those looking to build long-term relationships with their peers, culinary arts is a wonderful place to start. Rowland states “food is a good way to build community, to have comradery, and to connect with one another.” So, where would be better to build strong relationships than our very own culinary class? 

The life skills taught in foods are necessary for survival in life. In the words of Ms. Rowland, “Regardless of if you’re going to make millions or be blue collar, you have to know these things.” The culinary arts class is an amazing opportunity to build relationships, establish necessary life skills, and have immense amounts of fun. 

Medical Occupations (Med Occs):

The medical occupations class, also known as “Med Occs”, is another wonderful CTE class that can be found on the Granada campus. The class is led by Kathy Cabrera, who is looking to support students while they determine if the healthcare field is something they would like to look into. 

Ms. Cabrera currently has over ten years of experience in the healthcare field and is excited to be at Granada. The medical occupations class is only taught at two highschools in the tri-valley (Foothill and Granada). Due to this, students from multiple schools travel to Granada to enroll in this course. Adding to this, the medical occupations class runs two hours a day, Monday through Friday, for all three trimesters. With students from multiple schools, and a bottomless amount of time spent together, this is a phenomenal opportunity to build connections with people around the tri-valley. 

The medical occupations class also sets up students for success in the real world. Ms. Cabrera states that the program typically sets up students for opportunities like “a clinical internship at Kaiser Permanente, Stanford Valley Care, and private medical offices such as dental and veterinary clinics.” The current class has been certified to administer COVID tests, and does so at the Pleasanton Unified School District during their class time. 

The medical occupations class at Granada high school introduces students to a variety of different medical careers, and opens up opportunities for post-high school. 

Business Classes:

Granada hosts a wide variety of business classes, including Intro to Business, Economics Business Ownership, and Integrated Marketing. Each of these courses are led and taught by Dave Coleman, an owner of a small digital marketing company. He also has experience working as a manager for both large and small companies. Coleman states that his overall goal is to “help students not only learn about business and marketing, but to help them gain skills and knowledge that will help them in college and/or become entrepreneurs.”

Drew Kardy, a current junior looking to pursue business in the future stated that he “[likes] the class because it motivates [him] to continue to learn the basic concepts of marketing.” The atmosphere of the class and the push to keep moving forward has helped Drew, and he looks forward to pursuing business in the future. 

The business classes held on campus are perfect for students looking to immerse themselves in the world of business. For those on the fence about trying the class, Mr. Coleman simply says, “Shark Tank Fridays!”