Bridging the Gap Between Classroom and Career at Oregon Charter Academy

Transitioning from high school to a career can be rocky for students who aren’t on an established path. Some people take years to find a job they enjoy, while others spend their time working unfulfilling jobs simply because they’re unfamiliar with their options. 

In response, Oregon Charter Academy’s career and technical education (CTE) program ASCEND is designed to ease the shift from school to work by providing students with the 21st-century skills they’ll need to enter high-paying, high-demand careers. We offer five distinct career pathways:

• Business and Management

• Computer Science

• Hospitality and Tourism Management

• Medical Science

• Veterinary Science

Each pathway provides opportunities to earn a high school diploma, professional certifications, on-the-job training and even college credit. ASCEND students leave ORCA with marketable skills, real-world experience and the professionalism necessary to succeed in the workforce.

Launching An Exciting New Partnership

As the ASCEND program continues to grow, our educators work hard to develop new pathways and support professional partnerships that help CTE students learn essential life skills like leadership and teamwork. 

This spring, we enhanced the Veterinary Science Pathway by becoming the first online school in Oregon to partner with the Future Farmers of America (FFA). Our Veterinary Science students will participate in the organization’s classroom and laboratory instruction, supervised work-based learning and student leadership organizations. 

This partnership with FFA is the newest among a host of additional partnerships we have with groups like SkillsUSA — a nonprofit national association that prepares students for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations — and the Health Occupation Students of America, a global organization for medical and veterinary science students. 

The ASCEND Career Pathways

We start talking about careers with students in middle school, so that by high school, they understand how our offerings relate to their interests. If they join ASCEND, we encourage experimenting with different pathways and making changes if necessary. This is done through ongoing support for each student to help them establish clear direction and goals. Currently, ORCA students in the ASCEND program can choose between five different career pathways, each with unique opportunities and advantages.

Business and Management

The business and management pathway takes students on a journey through varying aspects of business like marketing, accounting and management. Students also learn topics like leadership, finance and market research that could help them start their own business someday. As part of the pathway, students get real-world experience working outside of school with our business partners in various settings.

Computer Science

Students interested in high-tech careers often participate in our computer science pathway, which is designed to prepare them for future certifications or college classes in computer science fields. As students progress through the program, they use classroom and portfolio work to learn software programming languages, hardware and team-building skills. They can also put their knowledge into practice working for hardware and software developers through internships and on-the-job training opportunities.

Hospitality and Tourism Management

Our hospitality and tourism management pathway allows students to learn about working in the hotel, restaurant and airline industries, along with careers in catering, cruise line operations and resorts or spas. These students can earn college credits while at ORCA and continue to Chemeketa Community College, where they’ll earn an associate's degree before entering the workforce.

Medical Science

Medical Science Pathway students can move through the program in two ways. The first enables them to leave school and enter the workforce directly as a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant through the National Healthcareer Association (CCMA-NHA). Alternatively, students can use their coursework, experience and health certifications to pursue future healthcare training opportunities. The pathway offers nearly endless possibilities for students to gain healthcare experience through internships, job shadow opportunities and even an online medical science simulator.    

Veterinary Science

ASCEND Veterinary Science students are introduced to diagnostic tests, diseases, treatments and animal cleaning and hygiene. They also learn other important topics like professionalism, teamwork, record keeping and time management that will help them succeed professionally. Upon graduation, many students work as veterinary assistants or move on to earn their associate's degree and become veterinary technicians. Others continue their education, intending to become veterinarians. 

Along with the real-world experience these students will gain on the job and with the FFA organization, ORCA also recently received a grant to develop a virtual reality veterinary lab that allows students to see what it’s like to work as a veterinarian in a controlled and safe setting. 

Students Gain an Advantage

ASCEND's focused classroom curriculum and work-based learning experiences give ORCA students a real leg up after high school. Students in our medical science and veterinary science programs often leave school and go to work directly for the employers that hosted their internships. Students in other pathways also gain valuable experience in their areas of study that help them transition into college studies or the workplace.  

By exposing students to real-life work situations and relevant classroom instruction, we're helping them discover the passion and aptitudes that will carry them through the rest of their lives. 

Ready to Pursue Career Success

Leaving school and entering the workforce will always be a challenging transition. But when students have spent time pursuing CTE studies at Oregon Charter Academy, they'll leave school with clear direction, confidence in the skills they've acquired and ready to find the career success they've already earned. 

If you’d like to learn more about ORCA’s ASCEND program, check out www.oregoncharter.org/ascend-home. Join one of our virtual information sessions to connect with ORCA staff and preview our learning platform. We hope to see you there!