A new program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office has connected educators to hands-on, industry-specific training and new skills they’ll take back to their classrooms this fall.
SBCEO’s Career Technical Education (CTE) Department launched the Teacher Externship Program, aimed at helping CTE teachers across the county to strengthen their teaching techniques, learn current workforce trends and use new tools, materials and technology that they can then teach to their students.
In its first week, five Righetti High School Career Technical Education (CTE) teachers, all part of the Guerra family, were placed in an externship at a construction site in Solvang. The teachers — who teach agriculture building and construction and agricultural mechanics — received training in everything from running underground electrical to connecting the project to the town’s infrastructure.
Teachers from Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, Lompoc Unified and Santa Ynez Joint Union High School District have signed up to participate this summer. The program matches teachers to training opportunities across multiple industry sectors including business/finance, engineering, transportation, construction technology, theater, media/sales/marketing and manufacturing/product development.
Educator externships are ongoing throughout this summer and will be offered at various times throughout the upcoming school year.
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“Teachers take their experience back into the classroom which results in better alignment between what our workforce needs are and what students are actually learning,” said Noelle Barthel, SBCEO’s Director of Career Technical Education. “Another benefit is that local businesses that host an extern will develop a stronger partnership with our local schools. It’s really a win-win-win situation for teachers, students, and our workforce economy.”
Guillermo Guerra, a participating teacher, shared: “The opportunity to collaborate with those in the field gave us new insights to build our program to current standards. Seeing the different crews working together reaffirms the importance of teamwork in the workplace. There are many lessons we can add to our curriculum to better prepare our students and grow our program.”
Participant Amy Guerra said that the experience helped her understand many of the soft skills that are essential on a job site, such as “the inner workings of a team, essential communication efforts, and the importance of doing a job correctly to pass inspections and stay within a timeline.”
The program takes place between June and July. Organizations and businesses that have provided externship opportunities include: Community Bank of Santa Maria, City of Santa Maria, Pacific Conservatory Theater (PCPA), Robert Jones Engineering, and Ben Slocum Media.
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