BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Brevard County school district just welcomed 70,000 students back to class and the new year comes with new opportunities to learn skills that can be applied at school or on the job.
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One of those programs is bringing the Indian River lagoon into the classroom as part of the Cocoa Beach Aqua-Science program.
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“The students are going to be cultivating oysters and clams, and mummichogs. This is a fish that lives in the Indian River Lagoon, which is exciting,” Brevard Public Schools Career and Technical Education Director Rachel Rutledge said. “They’re also going to be growing seagrass, so we’re really coming together as a community to help with the Indian River Lagoon restoration.”
Mr. Jones’ construction students @CocoaHighSchool are tearing down the old softball shed. #SkillsInAction @BrevardSchools pic.twitter.com/wMLVfjL8x2
— Brevard Public Schools CTE (@BrevardCTE) March 3, 2023
The Aqua-Science program will be open to Cocoa Beach Middle School and High School students. It’s one of two new Career and Technical Education programs bring offered by the district this year.
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“We have a new carpentry program opening at Viera High School,” Rutledge said. “It’s the first of it’s kind in the district as well, and it’s our first hands-on trades program at Viera.”
BPS still has a number of existing programs at other schools for both college-bound and direct-to-work students, including the “Firefighting and Technical Education” program launched at Palm Bay Magnet High School last school year.
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Students at Eau Gallie High School have the opportunity to be certified to work on aircraft. Plans are also being formed to offer aerospace education in the northern part of Brevard County in the 2024-2025 school year.
“More details on that later,” Rutledge said.
The school district says the Aqua-Science program will be partnering closely with the Brevard Zoo.
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