Enrollment in higher education dropped significantly during the pandemic, and with tuition rates increasing along with interest rates, many students are wondering whether college is worth the cost.
When she talks to her students about the labor market and higher education, Coachella Valley High School teacher Monica Perez makes it clear that, while she supports students attending college, it isn’t for everyone. This isn’t because those students aren’t capable or interested; it’s because the careers they may want to pursue don’t require it.
“We do try to explain to them that education is important if it’s purposeful for their needs,” Perez said.
Perez is an English teacher, the coordinator of the CVHS Digital Design and Production Academy, and the Career and Technical Education (CTE) lead for the school. Students in CTE programs get a head start in fields in which they may be interested, such as health care, law enforcement, hospitality, agriculture, film and media, and engineering. Palm Springs Unified and Desert Sands Unified school districts have similar CTE programs and options.
“There’s definitely a great advantage to having kids in CTE,” Perez said.
The programs are often thought of as alternatives to college, but Perez said that is a misconception. All of the students in the school’s CTE programs have opportunities to earn college credits while they’re still in high school, she said. They’re also able to work toward and earn certificates relevant to their field of interest.
That said, for students who don’t want to pursue college degrees, CTE programs can help them accelerate their careers. That’s part of the reason why Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order in August aimed at providing easier access to better, higher-paying jobs for those without college degrees in the state—recognizing that not all jobs require them, even if an employer says they do.
The executive order calls for “state leaders in education, workforce development and economic development to work collaboratively with leaders of the state’s public education systems and employers”—as well as communities—to create a “Master Plan on Career Education,” according to Newsom’s office.
Newsom also called for increased access to state jobs, instructing the California Department of Human Resources to “evaluate whether a college degree is needed for a particular position whenever its classification is reviewed.”
This is one potential way to help with the pipeline problem like the one we’re facing in health care, where more physicians are retiring than the amount of new doctors entering the field. In the health care program at Coachella Valley High School, students get experience working alongside medical professionals during blood drives. They can get field experience, gain access to internship community service hours, and earn their CPR certifications.
“They’re in high school, so it’s OK if they have goals and they have plans, and their minds change, because it’s really a time for exploration,” Perez said. Students can get some experience or an internship—and decide whether that career is something worth pursuing or not.
Perez said students in CTE programs are shown how the workforce works, how to write résumé, how to be professional and how to handle job interviews. She’s also teaching students what their rights are in different employment settings, and how to advocate for themselves.
“I try to teach the importance of being productive, skilled leaders, and the only way that they can be productive, skilled leaders is by acknowledging that they don’t know everything,” she said. Instead, they learn how to build on existing skills, elevating and advancing with each step in the academy structure.
In the digital design and production classes Perez teaches, it is especially important that students know how to adapt to changing technologies, she said. In the first of a series of classes, Perez’s film students learn about the film industry, the language and terminology used in the industry, and about different types of productions. In Film II, they’re taught the importance of story, project planning and time management, and technical skills. The final class culminates in a capstone project and introduces students to the concept of film budgets. In each section, students build their knowledge in media literacy and copyright law while advancing their technical skills, including capturing and editing video and audio.
Reaching for real world examples
Teaching her film classes via distance learning was a challenge during the pandemic shutdowns, but Perez made it work. (Many of the videos her students made during that time are posted on the program’s website.) She supplemented her regular curriculum by adding content from a course taught by a professional working in the industry.
The course, Robin Kincade’s “Be a Successful Film Production Assistant,” outlines the expectations and various duties that a production assistant may encounter. Kincade, a producer who started her career as a production assistant, said she felt an insider’s perspective on how to get into the industry was needed, largely due to the current lack of diversity.
“My goal is to walk on a set in, say, five years, and not see 70% white men,” she said.
The door into the industry, Kincade said, is the role of production assistant. From there, it’s easier to move into other roles and get on-the-job training. Her next role was as a location scout; then she was an assistant producer and a field producer.
Kincade said being a production assistant is a difficult job. She was yelled at plenty, and days can be as long as 14 hours.
“PAs will always be needed, because they’re the least-paid on the set,” she said.
It’s time to pause to acknowledge how toxic the industry sounds. We’ve learned over the last few years that pay can be inconsistent; diversity really is lacking; and there’s a lot of exploitation. That said, film production isn’t the only industry that has these problems. And according to Kincade, production assistants aren’t just needed in the film industry; they’re needed in art, theater and events.
Kincade said it’s definitely not the best job in the world, and nobody should stay a production assistant for long.
“It has nothing to do with what you know; it’s completely about attitude,” she said, like showing up on time and being able to work well with others. It means being OK with getting people coffee and jumping in to help people across all departments.
Kincade’s course includes interviews with professionals working in the industry. Perez said that was really helpful to bring to her students, because they need to hear from people other than their teachers.
“I always wanted to make sure that my curriculum aligned to the workforce,” Perez said. “My goal is for the kids to have something to feel proud of—an accomplishment that could potentially make them an income and a living.”