Beaufort County Schools’ career and technical education program takes students’ knowledge beyond a textbook, and has for many years.

Since the program’s early days when it was more commonly known as a vocational program, CTE has shifted toward a more workforce certification-based method of education, according to Wendy Petteway, CTE director for BCS.

“It’s not your father’s or your grandfather’s vocational courses,” Petteway said.

Today’s CTE program involves about 30 instructors across the county — the majority of whom work at the high school level. About one-third of the instructors, however, work with middle school students, according to Petteway.

Public school students have the opportunity to explore welding, automotive work, carpentry, STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) activities, fire and safety training, nursing assistant training and more. These students work toward skill certifications or academic credits that can transfer to community college.

“We are piloting some coding classes at the middle school level,” Petteway said. “Plus we are working on opening up some of the STEM and STEAM opportunities.”

She said participating students earned a total of 1,850 credentials in 2015-16, and the county estimates there are more than 4,000 students in CTE courses each school year.

For Petteway, the importance of CTE runs deep.

“My father was a CTE teacher and actually started the ICT program at Chocowinity High School in 1967. His name was James Buck,” she said. “I heard the value of then- vocational classes at the dinner table every night. As I grew older and went into teaching, and then administration, I saw the value of the hands-on learning that took place in CTE classes.”

She and other countywide partners strive to push the boundaries of CTE further, meeting with local businesses to learn what skillsets they need and making connections to foster internship opportunities for students. Petteway said she works closely with Beaufort County Community College, the Committee of 100 and the Business and Industry Innovation Council.

One of the goals for next year is incorporating Adobe usage certification into art classes at Washington High, as well as reaching 80-percent proficiency in technical credentials.

“Before, everybody was supposed to go to a four-year college,” Petteway said. “Now everybody is seeing the value of credentials.”