JH & HS Principal - Cherokee ISD By Rebecca Sharkey
I learned long ago that it matters when it comes to who is telling the story. If you don’t believe me, ask Sherrie to tell you about a Christmas donkey. She can bring a smile to your face whether you have heard it before or not. When it comes to Cherokee ISD, it matters who is telling our story as well. So, I would like to take this opportunity to tell a portion of our story.
On Thursday, we received a preliminary report regarding our College, Career, and Military Readiness. This is an area that has been a focus at Cherokee for the last few years. Over the course of the last several years, Cherokee ISD has laid the groundwork for several programs of study that have offered opportunities for our students beyond the halls of the school building. We have started and grown a floral design program where students are able to earn both a level 1 and level 2 TSFA certificate. This is something that directly translates to the workforce and is not just something for high school students. Also, our engineering program has grown and experienced similar success. Students in this program of study have been able to earn both an AutoDesk CAD certificate as well as an AutoDesk Inventor certificate. And, in the future, our students will be adding AutoDesk Fusion 360. Again, these Industry-Based Certifications are the real deal.
They are something tangible that our students can take with them along with their portfolios and get a career rather than just a job out of high school. Both of these programs and the addition of our Applied Agricultural Engineering and Culinary programs are providing our students with opportunities after high school whether college is on the horizon or not. The CCMR report I alluded to earlier revealed that Cherokee ISD tenth graders earn IBCs about 26% more than the state average. Cherokee eleventh graders outperform the state by about 65%, and our twelfth graders outperform the state by about 40%. Essentially, our students are getting it done and in a big way. The truly cool part about these successes is that our students from Cherokee, America, now have an opportunity to go out and do big things because our teachers went out and made a big difference in the lives of our students. And, they aren’t done. One of the coolest things about the weather getting nicer is when everyone starts firing up their grill. I literally walk outside to do whatever and as soon as I get a whiff of the grill (you know that smell) I begin to wonder what is going on over there. Cherokee ISD, know that our neighbors should have their noses in the air wondering what is going on over here because we are firing up something nice.