The Guardian - Kate Kreamer, executive director of Advance CTE [Career & Technical Education], a non-profit that supports state leaders who oversee career and technical education programs, said more school districts are offering climate-related CTE courses, but it’s challenging to find statistics because the issue is so politicized and because what the classes are called differs by school, district and state. One example of that growth: A “resiliency careers in forestry” program, which trains people as foresters, fire program managers, and log truck drivers at five California community colleges, enrolling about 700 students compared with 37 when it launched three years ago, according to the Foundation for California Community Colleges.
Students in Santa Cruz’s year-long fire science course say they love that it’s so hands-on. They practice putting on and taking off more than 70lbs of equipment in under 90 seconds, watch water cannon blast from the top of fire engines and get a chance to hold “attack lines”, 200ft-long water hoses. They also learn about the specialized vocabulary of firefighting, the range of jobs available and the certifications that are required. The course helps expose students to careers in firefighting, which is facing a significant shortage of people to fill jobs in California and some other regions of the country. In the state, entry-level jobs pay between roughly $50,000 and $100,000 per year, according to the statewide group California Professional Firefighters.
Charlotte Morgan, a soft-spoken then senior from Aptos in the Watsonville class, said she wanted to take this course specifically because of her interest in the climate crisis: “Growing up in Santa Cruz, we spend so much time outside and we care so much about it, and I want to protect that.”
Her friend Bellamy Breen said she felt the same way, though she’s interested in working on water conservation issues. “With climate change there’s more droughts, there’s more saltwater intrusion, and with all the agriculture here, it’s very important,” she said.