Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1476161
Solar, wind and hydroelectricity power are the focus at the Green Energ y Academy at Edison High School in Fresno, a Career Tech- nical Education program where students are mentored by experts and encouraged by educators to pursue careers in energ y and the environment. Through a partnership with PG&E, which donates money and materials, the academy offers a virtual internship. Students take a 10-hour OSHA certification course. e program, with its "school within a school" approach, serves as a model for other California Partnership Academies (see box). "Students gain the confidence here that will help them with work and college," says John Berg, a Fresno Teachers Association member who teaches race and social justice classes at the academy. Students discover job opportunities they would never knew existed. For example, students of Jamie Vargas, who teaches "introduction to electricity" and digital electronics, assist a private company with solar panel installations. "I feel that the academy prepared me for the real world," says Liz Agundez, a 2022 graduate who learned about energy conservation and reusable energy. She plans to attend CSU Fresno and become a civil engineer. Students in the Green Energy Academy at Edison High in Fresno are encouraged to pursue careers in energy and the environment. 24 cta.org The "new" Career Technical Education provides an upward path for all students By Sherry Posnick-Goodwin 21st Century CTE