Carpentry, aqua science, nursing: What's new in Brevard Public Schools this year?

Britt Kennerly, Florida Today
·2 min read
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Brevard Public Schools students with a taste for anything from culinary arts to robotics technology have a wide array of career and technical education offerings from which to choose this school year.

New additions for 2023-2024 include an aqua science program at Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School, and, at Viera High, a carpentry program.

More: Changes to expect at Brevard Public Schools going into the 2023-2024 school year

Career and technical education programs are being expanded at middle schools, with fundamentals of culinary careers taught at all middle school. At the upper-grade level, nursing programs, available at five Brevard high schools, are in high demand, said Russell Bruhn, BPS spokesperson.

In addition, the firefighting academy at Palm Bay High is entering its second year.

In a March 2023 photo, Brevard County Fire Rescue hosts students from the Palm Bay Magnet High School Fire Academy (which opened in 2022) at their drill yard on Inspiration Lane in Melbourne.
In a March 2023 photo, Brevard County Fire Rescue hosts students from the Palm Bay Magnet High School Fire Academy (which opened in 2022) at their drill yard on Inspiration Lane in Melbourne.

The program, launched in early 2022 with about 100 enrollees, is intended to give students a head start at a well-paying career, and could help address a local shortage of firefighters, officials said at its inception. The course is designed to prepare students for the firefighting program at Eastern Florida State College, and eventually, their state certifications.

For adult education students, opportunities for aspiring drivers are just down the road.

A new Commercial Drivers License training facility, set to open at the Clearlake Education Center in Cocoa in 2024, will help put propsective commerical drivers on the road, including as bus drivers for Brevard Public Schools.
A new Commercial Drivers License training facility, set to open at the Clearlake Education Center in Cocoa in 2024, will help put propsective commerical drivers on the road, including as bus drivers for Brevard Public Schools.

On Aug. 1, an open house and check presentation at Clearlake Education Center in Cocoa heralded the upcoming Commercial Drivers License facility projected to open in 2024. Sen. Tom Wright presented Brevard Public Schools and Brevard Adult Education with a ceremonial $3.8 million check to celebrate the funding.

"We know that our adult learners are the heart of our community ... they need to be upskilled and they need opportunities to be upskilled," saiid Lorri Benjamin, director of adult and community education.

"... My goal is to take our students who are working on maybe their adult high school language acquisition or possibly their GED, and look to walk out with a career certificate as well."

On Aug. 1, an open house and check presentation at Clearlake Education Center in Cocoa heralded the upcoming Commercial Drivers License (CDL) facility projected to open in June 2024. Sen Tom Wright presented Brevard Public Schools and Brevard Adult Education with a ceremonial $3.8 million check to celebrate the funding. Pictured, left to right, are Brevard School Board Chair Matt Susin, Superintendent Mark Rendell, Sen. Tom Wright; Lorri Benjamin, diirector of adult and community education; and school board members Megan Wright and Katye Campbell.

Superintendent Mark Rendell called the receipt of the funding and the facility's potential "a great day for our public schools but also for our community."

"Think about the fact that during the pandemic, the supply chain crisis was caused by a lack of drivers," he said. "And now we have the ability to train drivers right here in Brevard County."

Britt Kennerly is education/breaking news editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Kennerly at 321-917-4744 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bybrittkennerly Facebook: /bybrittkennerly.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard students have array of career and technical education options