SAND SPRINGS, Okla. — Monday marked a new year for Sand Springs Public Schools students, with more diverse course offerings as district works to expand its career education and certification courses.
“First day of school, it’s exciting,” Charles Page High School Principal Stan Trout said.
Monday marked Trout’s sixteenth first day of school as principal of Charles Page High School.
“I’ve seen a lot of change, a lot of kids, a lot of outstanding graduates,” Trout said.
Much of that change, coming in recent years, as the district has continued to evolve its curriculum.
“It is a focus in the profession right now, of making high school relevant,” he said.
That means the district is adding more relevant classes to set kids up for careers right out of school.
“The expectation is, by the time they graduate, they either have college credit, or they have industry certification or they have real life job experience in a profession of their choice,” he said.
Charles Page High offer programs like carpentry, engineering and interior design. It also recently added a STEM center and continues to add more stem-related classes.
This summer the football stadium got a new jumbotron, and--thanks to donations from local businesses — the district got new cameras and tv production equipment.
Now, students in the high school’s Sandite TV program will be able to create game broadcasts.
“We’re hoping to be able to teach them what you’re doing and what your photojournalist is doing right now,” Sand Springs Public Schools Superintendent Sherry Durkee told FOX23 crews Monday morning.
Durkee said — of course — in order to offer expanded course offerings, the district has to have teachers. But they can be hard to find right now.
“I’m proud that we have only one opening,” Durkee said. “But to deny that there’s a teacher shortage—there’s a teacher shortage.”
Durkee said it’s a problem that will persist for all districts until something can be done, particularly when it comes to pay.
“To draw talent, you pay your people,” she said. “We’ve seen an increase in inflation, and that means your salary doesn’t go as far as it did a few years ago, so I think that we can’t ignore that.”
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