12/9/2009 8:44:00 AM
Mountain Institute board discusses
identity, expansion of curriculum
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The Mountain Institute Joint Technology Education District is having an identity crisis.
According to superintendent Dr. Ray Polvani and business manager Howard Moody, community members are telling them they are not hearing anything about the new voter-approved district.
However, when Mountain Institute officials use the term JTED, these same people recognize the name.
Moody said the organizers chose Mountain Institute for the district's official name. However, when they learned that approval for the new district would appear on the ballot as JTED, people did not associate one with the other.
During its Wednesday meeting, the Governing Board discussed ways to associate the two names, including displaying JTED prominently on all Mountain Institute brochures.
In other business, with less than a year under its belt, the Mountain Institute board approved expanding its course offerings at member school districts.
Based on recommendations from the Mountain Institute Advisory Committee (MAC), the board approved the addition of JTED courses at the following locations for the 2010-11 school year:
• Agriculture: Seligman campus.
• Automotive/Collision and Paint: Yavapai College Career Technology Education Center Campus.
• Carpentry Technologies-Option A, Advanced Construction (green building): Career Technology Education Center Campus.
• Education Professions: Bradshaw Mountain High School West Campus.
• Welding Technologies: Ash Fork, Bagdad and Career Technology Education Center campuses.
According to student interest surveys, the No. 1 course boys requested is welding and the top course for girls is cosmetology.
Program Director Jeramy Plumb said Mountain Institute is actively pursuing the addition of a cosmetology course. However, cosmetology is a labor- and equipment-intensive program. Since none of the member districts currently offer cosmetology classes, Mountain Institute would have to develop the program from scratch.
In anticipation of state cuts to the Department of Education, Plumb visited each campus with a DOE representative seeking conditional approval for the courses before the submittal of a notice of intent to offer the courses.
Plumb estimated 175 students would enroll in the new courses.
Although the Governing Board gave Polvani and Plumb the green light to move forward with the new courses, Polvani said, "We will not spend the money if not enough students enroll. However, we do have options to present to the students if the courses are not offered, most of them revolving around Yavapai College CTE."
Board member Casey Samsill, representing the Mayer School District, said of the student interest surveys that showed a strong interest in cosmetology, early childhood development and sports medicine, "In the area of gender equity, I think we are missing a big opportunity."
Plumb indicated that when Mountain Institute starts marketing for the 2010-11 school year it would "focus on gender equity and non-traditional jobs."
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