New Career Training Courses Await Certification in U.S. Virgin Islands

During its meeting last Wednesday, the board of Career and Technical Education heard that they would soon be asked to certify curriculums in a host of new subject areas for CTE in the territory.

“We have forthcoming curriculums for LPN, phlebotomy, medical massage therapy, certified medical assistance, and CNE,” said Monique Faulkner, state sirector of Career and Technical Education.

Ms. Faulkner acknowledged that CTE curriculums for some of the above subject areas have been in use, some for several years, however she maintained that “it is the best thing for us to just get them certified by the board.” That way, the courses could be integrated into highschool programs and also aligned with university programs to eliminate duplication of effort and work.

An agriculture curriculum from Mississippi is also being used as a template to develop similar material tailored for the territory. “We can Virgin Island-ize it,” Ms. Faulkner said. “It comes complete with lesson plans, everything, so we can tweak it for the Virgin Islands,” she continued, speaking about the open resource.