The Santa Barbara County Education Office offers multiple career pathways and career technical education courses. Career pathways are a sequence of technical courses that prepare students for success, at industry standards. Transition to more advanced coursework in a career area of interest is supported.
TRADART has partnered with the Santa Barbara Unified School District to create and implement an innovative curriculum, which equips the next generation with the tools and skills to successfully enter the building and trades industry. TRADART’s Industrial Arts Skills Passport provides a framework for and a record of the student’s completed shop class training. Available at junior high and senior high schools in the district, the Skills Passports programs explore construction technologies and emphasize entry-level job skills, effective work habits, personal responsibility, and safety – aligned to industry standards. Our Skills Passport is an integral component of the Work Readiness component in the State of California’s K-14 Career Technical Education pathway. See Santa Barbara City College for more information on furthering professional goals.
Industrial Technology Passport
(available at Santa Barbara Junior High, La Cumbre Junior High School, and Goleta Valley Junior High)
- Emphasis is on wood construction and technology of the industry
- In succeeding semesters, there is increased opportunity for individual responsibility and self-paced learning activities in non-wood trades, including electrical and plumbing through modal stations.
- The course emphasizes the different concepts of construction technology, which are necessary for further technical training and career advancement
- Skills in academic subject areas will be integrated into the course, including math, material science, English, and computer science
- Classroom instruction will be paired with construction project items in order to cover course subject areas.
- Upon completion, students earn a Passport of Skills that assesses the competencies they have mastered
- Junior high program graduates will be legible for an abbreviated safety refresher and entry to an intermediate/advanced level high school construction technology class.
Construction Technology Skills Passport
(available at Dos Pueblos, San Marcos, and Santa Barbara High School)
- Emphasis is on exploring current construction technologies.
- In succeeding semesters, there is increased opportunity for individual responsibility and self-paced learning activities in non-wood trades such as electrical, plumbing, dry wall, and concrete
- Skills in academic subject areas will be integrated into the course
- Classroom instruction is paired with construction lab activities and simulations
- Upon completion of this course, students will earn a Construction Technology Passport identifying the skills and competency levels they have mastered.
- Program graduates will be eligible for entry-level employment in the industry sector of Building and Trades.
Internships
It is TRADART’s intention that the Skills Passport serves as a guide for junior high and high school students, one that provides them with the necessary training to lead them to an industry internship and then to employment. To that end, TRADART supports job placement opportunities for interested students. Partners In Education manages a superb internship program in which students first take a soft skills training and then are placed in an appropriate company. Students are exposed to job-seeking and job-keeping skills which prepare them for life after high school.