The average highschooler knows almost nothing about business. They spend their money on fashion, café drinks, and video games.
Not at Nathan Hale though, with the new business class, students are learning to launch new product lines, calculate their success, and implement learning in hands-on projects.
“Business understanding is just required to be an adult,” said Horticulture and science teacher Matthew Davis, now taking on the role of our business education teacher.
Marketing 1 gives important skills to students through lots of hands-on projects, resources that offer students an awareness of their financial decisions and a road map to making their own businesses.
Although new, the Marketing class will be jumping right into the deep end.
Students will be putting their ideas into practice this November through the Winter Plant Sale alongside Horticulture.
Davis says that the class will mostly be projects accumulating throughout the semester, letting students learn through long-lasting experience.
In addition to our unique community of clubs, organizations, sports, and programs that need funding, we have entrepreneurship.
When people learn about how these systems (like sports boosters) work, it creates space for students to become proficient and more successful in business oriented interests.
Alongside Marketing, a new class that students are getting ready to enjoy — learning and eating — is the new Baking and Pastry class taught by Chef Laura Pyles.
“It’s important for kids to know how to cook, have some knife skills,” said Pyles.
Not only having the perks of tasting and making delicious food, Hale students will get their food handlers permit, providing a pipeline opportunity for students wanting to pursue jobs in the food industry.
Baking and Pastry is another very hands-on class with projects galore.
Students will learn to make simple things from chocolate chip cookies to complexities like danishes.
With new skills to learn, students will also be partnering up with Horticulture by making treats for customers in the winter sale.
“It’s a challenging class,” Pyles explained. “In baking you have to focus on what you’re doing because once it goes into the oven, if it comes out the other end and it’s all messed up…”
Students are up for a challenge learning new skills in precision.
Chef Laura’s grading will not be on how well the students bake or how well the food turns out, but how well they take care of the kitchen and learn from their mistakes.
Taking these new classes gives students an introduction into different options post-high school.
With college looming in the distance for seniors and juniors, taking Career Technical Education (CTE) classes gives students opportunities other than college.
Chef Laura graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology before following her passion into culinary school.
Students who are finding interest and passion for both marketing and baking have opportunities through the community colleges and local culinary schools in Seattle to pursue during and after high school.
Taking CTE classes are a requirement for graduation at Nathan Hale.
Students must get one total credit of CTE classes over their high school career.
However, students can gain credit multiple ways.
Whether it be through running start, skills center, or their own jobs, students can use their electives and certain extracurriculars to complete this graduation requirement.
In addition to Horticulture, Marketing, and Baking and pastry, there is a broad range of CTE classes worth exploring such as, Culinary Arts, Career Connect, Intro to Medical Careers, Psychology, Yearbook, Journalism, and Media Arts teaching students important skills for the real-world life.
With these additional CTE classes, Hale is broadening its options for students to have more choices when it comes to becoming honorable skillful global thinking citizens making their way in the world.