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By AVERY HEVERLY
For The Express
MILL HALL -- The Keystone Central School District has two new educational programs for the district to better prepare students for various options after high school.
The first new program is Advanced Health Professions, which will be offered as a dual enrollment course through Lock Haven University. This program combines skill-based, interactive, and university level classroom instruction with shadowing in the healthcare setting. The program is designed to prepare students for post-secondary education by offering a college level course.
This course requires a student must be entering their junior or senior year of high school, have an unweighted GPA of 85% or better, have completed a biology course, be currently enrolled in or have completed a chemistry course, have a reliable attendance record, and have a letter of recommendation from a biology or chemistry teacher.
Some possible career pathways provided by the Advanced Health Professions course include physician assistant studies, occupational therapy, pharmaceuticals, dentistry and veterinary studies.
The second new program that will be coming soon is Engineering Technologies/Technicians. These technicians' jobs, as described by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, are to, "use the principles and theories of space, engineering, and mathematics to solve technical problems in their research and development, manufacturing, sales, construction, inspection, and maintenance." They may also assist engineers and scientists in their own research and development, and build equipment and conduct experiments themselves.
Instruction may include, "history and ethics; problem solving; power and energy, engineering graphics; automated systems; fundamental electronics; manufacturing systems and processes; green energy, properties and strength of natural, composite and synthetic materials; total quality control; and electricity and electronics."
Some possible career pathways provided by the Engineering Technologies/Technicians course include aerospace engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, industrial engineering, and mechanical engineering.
This program, "prepares individuals to apply knowledge and skills in the engineering field." The program is also being offered to help fulfill a local need for engineers. Local manufacturing companies could all benefit from graduates of this program.
The district is hopeful that these new educational programs will suit a student's needs as he or she considers education after high school.