Aligning Education and Industry with Visit Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa City Schools has a variety of Career Technical Education (CTE) programs designed to offer students an opportunity to explore career options and acquire technical skills that prepare them for education after high school. The CTE programs, also referred to as "Career Pathways" consist of a set of three year-long career/technical courses, which are designed to offer students an opportunity to explore career options, participate in work-based learning experiences, acquire technical and employability skills, and prepares them for their future—college and career.

The week of June 18th, Visit Santa Rosa hosted a team of teachers from Maria Carrillo High School and several members of the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) to share their front-line knowledge about tourism, hospitality, sales and marketing in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County. The teachers and SCOE staff heard from Peter Rumble, CEO of the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber and staff from the Visit Santa Rosa; Executive Director Brad Calkins, Director of Sales, Charlene Lennon, and Director of Marketing, Chris Vomvolakis. While Peter provided an overview, each member of the Visit Santa Rosa team elaborated on their roles and described the methods, tools and techniques necessary to perform their jobs. The half-day session provided an externship experience that will be critical as the teachers build their school year projects and will positively impact their future lesson plans.

Engagement like this has a lasting impact for years to come. One teacher commented, “What has been so helpful about having the opportunity to engage with different local high-profile members of the workforce and ask questions is that I now know that there continues to be a growing need for people in the tourism, and wine, food and beverages trades in Sonoma County. I got a sense for the education and soft skills that are necessary to be successful going from high school to career, and I gained confidence in being able to explain those trades to our students, that they can be successful on a high school to work track. I was able to come up with performance tasks and projects that will give our students career life skills that are meaningful and interesting to them.”

CTE Foundation and SCOE will continue aligning education and industry to strengthen student achievement and ensure a strong incoming workforce. Visit Santa Rosa and the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber are proud to lend their support to teachers in preparing the workforce of the next generation in Sonoma County.