MTC Introduces ‘Future Friday’
By MEGAN WILLIAMS
Daily News-Record 12/20/19
The Massanutten Technical Center executive board met Monday to receive an update on new things going on at the regional program, including a new career- centric initiative.
The executive board for Massanutten Technical Center consists of the school boards for Rockingham County Public Schools and Harrisonburg City Public Schools, and both superintendents.
MTC Director Kevin Hutton talked to the executive board about a new initiative called “Future Fridays.” This is an opportunity for businesses to come in and talk to students who sign up about the breadth of career opportunities they offer. Oftentimes, especially with large and well-known businesses in this area, people can get an incomplete idea of what careers a business has to offer, Hutton said. For instance, when people think about Cargill, they think of poultry. They might not think about the managerial side or the technology side of the business.
So, every Friday, representatives from a different business that is currently hiring, or often hiring, comes
in to talk to students for 25 minutes. This began at the beginning of the school year and almost every Friday has been booked for the rest of the year.
Additionally at Monday’s meeting, the executive board heard about enrollment, which continues to increase. There are more than 160 students enrolled this year.
The board also heard about the proposed staggered start times that the Rockingham County School Board is considering for the 2020- 2021 school year. This would involve elementary school students starting school an hour earlier than middle and high school students.
This presents some challenges for regional programs like MTC, which has students from RCPS and HCPS.
“I presented some information about what we’d have to do,” Hutton said. “There are no problems without solutions.”