Chesterfield County Public Schools career and technical education programs won big awards from the Virginia Department of Education. Two programs won regional recognition, with one going on to win a statewide award in the Virginia Department of Education Creating Excellence Awards program.
The early childhood education program won the Region 1 award for CTE Program of the Year. Latoya Harvey Harrington leads the program, which is based at the Chesterfield Career and Technical Center @ Courthouse and co-located at the Chester Early Childhood Learning Academy, a prekindergarten within Chesterfield County Public Schools. The early childhood education program is a two-year program for high school juniors and seniors that prepares them to foster the social, emotional, physical and cognitive growth of young children. At the Chester Early Childhood Learning Academy, early childhood education students work in prekindergarten classrooms with children ages 3 to 5. This program prepares students for the child development associate certification, ultimately advancing their careers and contributing to the status of the profession.
The Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Advisory Committee for the Chesterfield Career and Technical Center @ Courthouse won the statewide award for CTE Advisory Committee of the Year after first winning the Region 1 award. Will Willis heads the HVAC/R program and has assembled an advisory committee of 40+ owners and top employees that meets twice annually. The committee reviews the curriculum and instructional resources and gives feedback for areas that need improvement based on current industry standards. The members also volunteer in the classroom monthly to present to students about career awareness, career opportunities and achieving universal EPA certification. Advisory committee members help coordinate and judge SkillsUSA competitions. They also participate in trades interview days to give students the opportunity to interview for part-time employment, full-time employment and work-based learning experiences.