At the Northland Career Center in rural Missouri, educators faced a challenge that many career and technical education programs encounter: balancing the demands of career-specific courses with state-mandated academic requirements.

When the state added an additional required English credit, it threatened students’ ability to attend the career center. Faced with declining enrollment, the school had to find a way to ensure that students could still get their English credits without sacrificing the hands-on, career-focused learning that CTE offers.

Enter Sara Price, the English teacher at Northland Career Center, and the solution she helped implement by embedding English directly into the CTE curriculum.

The Challenge: Balancing CTE and English Requirements

When the state of Missouri changed its graduation requirements to include a fourth credit of English, it created a dilemma for students at Northland Career Center. Students were already balancing their CTE coursework with their academic requirements, and the added pressure of another English credit threatened to reduce the number of students able to attend the center.

Without a solution, this could have drastically cut enrollment, meaning fewer students would have access to valuable career programs like health sciences, law enforcement and diesel technology. Northland needed to find a way to help students earn their English credit without taking away from the hands-on learning that makes CTE so valuable.

The Solution: Embedding English in CTE

Instead of forcing students to split their focus between separate English classes and their CTE courses, the team at Northland Career Center took a different approach. They embedded English instruction directly into the CTE programs. With Sara Price’s guidance, English learning became a natural part of career training.

The collaboration didn’t stop with the English teacher. Program instructors also played a vital role in planning and facilitating the English curriculum. Some instructors, particularly those with experience in industry, worked closely with Price to ensure that the literature was relevant to their fields.

This meant students were learning English skills that directly related to their future careers, whether they were analyzing crime scene reports in the law enforcement program or writing technical manuals in diesel technology.

Real-World Connections: Preparing Students for the Workforce

The English curriculum wasn’t just about meeting state standards — it was about giving students the communication and literacy skills they would need in the workforce. To make sure the lessons were aligned with industry demands, the center involved advisory committees and industry professionals in the curriculum development process. This approach ensured that the English content was not just academic — it was practical.

By integrating English into the CTE curriculum, Northland Career Center prepared students for real-world challenges. Students weren’t just reading Shakespeare for the sake of tradition; they were learning to write the kinds of reports, emails and analyses they would need in their future careers.

Engaging the Students: Innovative Teaching Methods

One of the keys to making this approach work was keeping students engaged. Price and the other instructors used innovative teaching methods that made English both fun and relevant. During her presentation, Price shared an example of how she involved students in interactive discussions, hands-on activities and reflective moments that connected the skills they were learning in English with the skills they needed for their CTE programs.

A highlight of the presentation was a game called “Helpful or Not Helpful,” where students had to evaluate tasks they would perform an hour before hosting a major event like Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July. It’s these kinds of creative activities that make students excited to learn, helping them see the relevance of English in their everyday lives.

Impact on Enrollment and Student Success

The results speak for themselves. By embedding English into the CTE curriculum, Northland Career Center not only retained its student enrollment but increased it. Students appreciated that they didn’t have to choose between academic and career success — they could have both.

Beyond just meeting academic requirements, students gained valuable communication skills that prepared them for life after high school. Whether they were heading straight into the workforce or continuing their education, they had the literacy tools they needed to succeed.

A Model for Success

Northland Career Center’s approach to embedding English in CTE shows what’s possible when schools think creatively about integrating academic subjects into career training. By working together, educators at Northland found a way to meet both academic and career goals, keeping students engaged and setting them up for future success.

The big takeaway? When schools embrace innovative approaches like this one, they can create pathways that lead students not just to graduation but to meaningful careers.

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