EDUCATION
CAREERS IN GEAR
BY SUSAN BURGESS
44 Port St. Lucie Magazine
CITY OF HIALEAH EDUCATIONAL ACADEMY
(t vocationaltechnical acadeTies, students are taught by e_perts ^hat they could e_pect if they opted for a career as a firefighter, an electrician or other
demanding jobs requiring special skills. Here, students at the City of Hialeah Educational Academy, a sister school to Somerset College Preparatory Acade
Ty in Port St. Lucie, are given instruction on ^hat to do in a building fire.
Students may soon have an academy for
vocational training to fill the many skilled
job openings in the near future
Gobnait Zick has been waiting a long time for a
school that could provide hands-on training in a
trade for her son. The sixth-grader’s heart has been
set on attending a vocational-technical school that
would give him as many options as possible.
“My son wrote a paper to compare and contrast the differences
between a traditional high school and a vocationaltechnical
school when he was in fifth grade,” =ick says.
“Since then he has wanted to go to a vocational school.”
Mom and son probably won’t have to wait much longer.
The Port St. Lucie City Council hopes the school her son
wants will be ready for students by 2020 or 2021.
The council has an economic study in hand showing that
almost , skilled Mobs will need to be filled in the next two
years and that a maMority of those employers are already having
trouble finding workers.
They also have a citizens’ survey revealing that 80 percent
of more than , respondents believe that a vocational
career school is necessary in this city of , people. :ith
that, the council Mumped on the idea of creating a career academy
in the city’s Mobs corridor in 7radition, first discussing it
at their summer retreat in late July.
After requesting proposals from charter school companies
last summer, the city council chose Somerset &ollege 3repara- >>