Exploring career opportunities: a journey to SVCTE

Courtesy of Brad Ward

The inside of a SVCTE Nursing classroom.

On Jan. 30, College and Career Specialist Brad Ward led a campus visit for students who signed up for the Silicon Valley Career Technical Education (SVCTE) field trip. SVCTE is an opportunity for students to experience hands-on learning about a career that they are interested in. The campus is centrally located in San Jose. Being a science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) high school program, SVCTE offers many courses that fulfill UC & CSU A-G requirements. 

According to Ward, four students signed up for the SVCTE trip, similar to the number from last year. The students sat through a presentation where they learned about all the courses that SVCTE offered. After that, they walked around campus for an hour to visit the classrooms and facilities. 

“The facilities and classrooms are really impressive, and they have a lot of things that most high schools can’t get,” Ward said. “For example, in the firefighter section, uniforms and equipment were placed neatly together, and students could see what firefighters really work with every day.” 

SVCTE, formerly called A Joint Powers Agency, was formed in 1983 by six districts, including the Los Gatos-Saratoga Unified School District. It was officially renamed to Silicon Valley Career Technical Education in 2014, and it currently provides 28 specialized courses such as Cybersecurity, Film and Video Production, and Medical Assisting to students from 40 different high schools in Santa Clara County. Courses will be taught by industry experts. 

“SVCTE is a place where students can take semester-long courses that Saratoga and most other high schools do not offer,” Ward said. “Our students can study with other students of similar ages and with similar interests.” 

However, there is one major challenge to the program. Taking classes at SVCTE can conflict with students’ current high school schedules. Because of this, Ward suggests that students only take courses at SVCTE that they are really interested in and cannot take at SHS. Overall, she strongly encourages students to join the SVCTE field trip to discover their interests. 

“I think that the [SVCTE field trip] was really helpful because students can really see what their dream career looks like,” Ward said. “It’s like visiting a college in person versus watching a video on YouTube or TikTok. It’s not ever the same.”