Just under 2,500 Ector County ISD eighth-graders converged on the Odessa College Sports Center Tuesday for the 8th Grade Course Fair.
The event gave students a taste of all the high school and dual credit courses that are available in one location, including not only career and technical education, but fine arts, languages other than English, AVID, ROTC and more.
Faculty, officials and principals from ECISD and faculty from OC were on hand as well.
“We’re bringing all those high school programs together in one location and bringing all six middle schools through so that they can talk to students, teachers, and even college faculty to learn more about the courses that they can take while they’re in high school. … It kind of goes back to the students creating a four-year plan for high school in February, selecting courses … and being able to think about what they saw today (to) help make a better decision about the courses that they want to take,” Executive Director of Career and Technical Education Ryan Merritt said.
As far as he knows, Merritt said this is the first time ECISD has had the event in one location.
“In the past, they’ve had an event at each middle school. We wanted to have a larger event at one location, so that it’s equitable for all students. They all have the same experience and the same access to all the information,” Merritt said.
“… By selecting the courses at an earlier age, it gives you a head start on your future,” Merritt said.
He noted that students are not locked into their choice.
“They have the ability to change each school year, but they’re encouraged to pick a sequence of courses to take within a certain career area, and then progress through that sequence of courses so that they have a deep understanding of that career field. But students are free to select whatever course they would like to take in terms of electives every year,” Merritt said.
He added that it’s important to find out while you’re in high school that you don’t like a certain career field rather than realizing it when you’re a sophomore or junior in college.
The fair was discussed at an ECISD Board of Trustees workshop earlier in January.
“We talked about the importance of getting everyone involved in it. Right now, we’re seeing that all the eighth-graders are showing up. Nimitz just showed up with 12 busloads of students,” Merritt said.
Students also got to visit a college campus and meet college faculty. Merritt added that high school students talked to eighth-graders about high school, which is sometimes preferable to teachers.
Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Lilia Nanez said health sciences and AVID were popular stops for students.
“We’re trying to grow our ROTC program at OHS, so when those feeders come in, they’ve got kids signing up,” Nanez said.
Nanez added that the advantage of having the event in one place is that whether you’re a student at Nimitz or Bonham Middle School, you’re seeing the same things.
“Instead of listening to presentations, a student gets to choose the table in the area that they’re interested in to go learn more about it,” Nanez said.
Victoria Rivera, a senior at Odessa High School, said she thinks it’s amazing that AVID had its own table because there are a lot of organizations competing to get students. She has been in AVID since seventh grade.
“I think AVID is really good. I think it’s one of the most helpful programs that an incoming freshman can go into, because of all the amazing opportunities that AVID has like going into college. I think it’s really amazing number here, and other putting an effort into recruiting kids,” Rivera said.
When students ask her about AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination, she tells them it’s a college readiness class that teaches you how to study; how to do group work; how to take notes; and how to stay organized, among other things.
“It’s taught me to stay organized with deadlines and how to keep my planner, because planners are really huge in AVID; how to take focused notes; and how to make sure that I’m paying attention and note-taking in all my classes. It has helped me a lot throughout my high school journey,” she said.
Permian High School senior Ryder Plymell also has been an AVID student since seventh grade.
Plymell said the most common question he got Tuesday was whether AVID was an easy class. Others asked what the class would do for them.
“It gives you scholarship opportunities, college opportunities, job opportunities. … It really helped me a lot,” Plymell said.
He added that you can get into college faster with AVID, as well.
“At first, I didn’t have any clue on how to do this. AVID actually taught me how to sign up for colleges (and) how to get into colleges earlier than normal kids, so that’s why it’s really good,” Plymell said.
Nimitz eighth-grader Zoey Terrazas was with Mycah Robles, Bailey Reed, Ava Alderson and Andrea Olisea.
Terrazas said the event was really informative because she found out about things that she didn’t know were actual classes.
“It just gave me more opportunities to learn about more stuff and find out stuff that I didn’t know,” Terrazas said.
OHS Principal Anthony Garcia said an event like this is extremely important because it gives students a chance to see different pathways going into postsecondary, whether it be going to college or working in an industry or trade.
“It’s a great opportunity for kids to get an idea of the direction that they’re headed,” Garcia said.
OCTECHS Principal Karl Miller said they accepted 150 students this year — their largest class ever.
“We are hopeful in two more years to add nursing and petroleum processing,” Miller said.
They are also adding paralegal, construction management and child development.
