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During a regular school day, student Joseph Daramay employs mise en place before cooking and practices proper knife handling skills. Miguel Barreto Gil operates trade tools and machinery at the Finishing Trades Institute. Kaemon Xiong earns hands-on experience through his employment through Work-Based Learning, and future nurses work toward their Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certifications.

Brooklyn Center Community Schools is proud to offer a growing number of Career and Technical Education (CTE) partnerships for high schoolers. ​​Partnerships include opportunities in Information Technology (IT), business, construction, medical training, and other various trades through local partners like the Finishing Trades Institute, Genesys Works, Brooklynk, Hennepin Technical College, and more. Students explore their interests and learn valuable skills during their high school years that can lead to high-paying careers – all for free.

CTE at BCCS is organized by but not limited to four pathways: Construction, Work-Based Learning, Business, and Family and Consumer Science (FACS). 

Construction

Through the Finishing Trades Academy (FTA), 16-20 BC students per year gain hands-on experience at the Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest (FTIUM) in Little Canada, getting a peek into a post-graduation path other than college. Students participate for one semester and earn two credits for successfully completing the program. At the FTIUM facility, students work with apprentices and instructors who are leading professionals in their fields. Students work on many of the same projects and activities as the apprentices, and learn to operate trade tools and machinery such as scissor lifts, forklifts, aerial lifts, and swing stages, as well as learning sandblasting and professional painting techniques. During their time at FTA, students also learn about trade unions and network with companies ahead of the start of their careers. The experience mimics what it would be like to be hired by a company, with real work out in the field. This partnership with FTIUM has allowed BCCS to establish its Construction pathway.

Work-Based Learning

Construction doesn’t stop with Finishing Trades. Through BC’s Work-Based Learning program, students participate in summer internships with Minnesota Trades Academy (MTA) and earn experience and wages through paid jobs during the school year. 

The Minnesota Trades Academy provides construction education to high schoolers around the Twin Cities. Through the MTA summer internship, students have completed various construction projects that better the BCS building and school grounds. They have built a ticket booth, remodeled the concession stand, refurbished picnic tables and benches for the school garden, built a pergola and wood platform for shade in the school garden, decked out bird houses and feeders, built a tool chest on wheels, and more.

During the school year, students also work with local companies and organizations to earn hands-on skills as part of Work-Based Learning at BCCS. “They've given opportunities for us to explore different careers and see what we as students would like to go into,” said BC senior Kaemon Xiong, who is employed with Lake Street Works. “We’re able to seek out different career opportunities that better us and get us a foot in the door.”

Through CTE Career Exploration Classes and Work-Based Learning Opportunities, students also attend field trips that provide trainings on brick laying, tile setting, construction, electrical and plumbing, HVAC, careers with the county and criminal justice field trips.
 

Students visit the Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Apprenticeship Training Center and work on brick laying

Through Community Based Vocational Training (CBVT), students in special education programs also gain work experience in volunteer and paid positions throughout BCCS such as kitchen helpers and classroom aides. "I have increased my confidence by learning how to prepare and serve food in the kitchen as part of my CBVT class. I have enjoyed working with the cooks and kitchen staff to learn what it is like to be a cook,” said student and kitchen helper Dominic McKnight.

Cheyenne Olson, who volunteers at Brooklyn Center Elementary School, shared, "When I started in the CBVT program, I would rate my confidence as a one [on a scale of 1-10] and now I would rate my confidence at an eight. I have learned to be more confident in my skills and speak up for what I need."

Business

BCCS has also launched a Business pathway, offering business and accounting classes through Insight Online. Classes include Personal Finance, Accounting, Web Design, Sports & Entertainment Marketing, and Career Planning. These classes are taught live in a virtual format, available to any BCS student in grades 9-12.

The Business program is a state-approved program, and classes are a mixture of discussion, hands on, projects, research, and simulations. 

“Business classes provide students an opportunity to explore career areas they might not otherwise be exposed to,” said Rachelle Munson, Business Education teacher. “They are able to learn important real-world skills of money management, problem solving, and collaborating, just to name a few.”

FACS

Since joining BCCS, Teacher and Chef Dawn Shannon has revamped the district’s Family and Consumer Science (FACS) program. While middle schoolers participate in essential project-based learning such as the RealCare® Baby doll program, the learning opportunities that often leave a big impact on BC students lie in high school culinary classes.
 

A middle school student cares for a baby doll as part of FACS project-based learning

Chef Shannon’s top priority? A clean, tidy kitchen up to “stainless steel clean” sanitation standards. In each culinary course, students are instilled with hygiene practices fundamental to any professional industry kitchen. “I want students to have employability skills after they've learned with me,” said Shannon. “[If they] are serious about their safety and sanitation, employers will want them. I want their level of professionalism and hygiene to be notable.”

The introductory high school culinary course teaches students the ropes in food preparation, appliances and equipment. The Global Foods course embraces flavors from all around the world as students immerse themselves in Asian, eastern European, southern United States and other cuisines. Finally, the Advanced Culinary course for grades 11 and 12 provides ProStart (National Restaurant Association Education foundation) elevated training through complex dishes. 

From a Chinese noodle soup with beef broth and scallions to pizza from scratch to shrimp fettuccine, Chef Shannon often likes to teach her advanced class “off the grid,” providing demonstrations students use as a foundation before crafting their own unique twists on the dishes.

“It’s a lot of watch and learn, a lot of demo and learn for the students,” said Shannon. 

This freestyle format allows students to tweak their recipes, find their creativity, and learn from their mistakes. If they get something wrong while baking, for example, they have the opportunity to try again.

Senior Joseph Daramay shared that the skills he has learned have stayed with him when he cooks at home, from hygiene practices to knife skills.  “Every time I step into a FACS classroom at BCCS, I learn something new, especially about cooking and food preparation,” he said. “That is one of the main reasons I keep taking these classes – there is always something new to improve on.”

Students Santa Yang (left) and Joseph Daramay (right) make homemade tortillas

The advanced culinary class is made possible through BCCS’ partnership with ProStart and Hospitality MN. Last fall, BCS was one of 48 schools nationwide and the only school in Minnesota to be awarded the $5,000 Rachel Ray Grow Grant, allowing Chef Shannon to order and replace cookware sets for each kitchen lab (6 total) and commercial equipment that meets industry standards. 

The FACS classes don’t just exist within the classroom walls. The dynamic programming includes farm to school opportunities, building taste tests that students help prepare, and field trips to local farms to expand students’ learning. Looking ahead, Chef Shannon plans on growing the relationship between the culinary classes and the school garden, working with teacher and BCS school garden guru Chloe Cotherman. “I want to make farming and gardening cool for teenagers,” said Shannon.

Advanced culinary students receive a demonstration from guest speaker (Brian Hay, CEC, CCE, Sommelier, National Culinary School Specialist-from Michigan, from the company that sells Zwilling, Staub, Miyabi, Demeyere, Henckels, and Ballarini knives)

Other CTE Opportunities

Through a partnership with Hennepin Technical College (HTC), the Certified Nursing Assistant course enables students to work toward becoming healthcare professionals after graduation. Students earn college credit for free and prepare for Minnesota Department of Health certification tests, saving money and bringing them closer to launching their careers. Once they complete the course, they receive their certifications to become CNAs and are honored with a pinning ceremony.

In December 2025, BCCS honored this year’s Centaurs enrolled in with a Nurse Pinning Ceremony led by HTC staff. 

What’s Next?

“CTE has been growing and will continue to grow as we seek more and more opportunities for our students to gain experience through meaningful hands-on learning and activities,” said Julie Gloege, District CTE/Perkins Coordinator. 

This spring, an expanded partnership is slated to begin with Hennepin Technical College in which students gain hands-on training and certification in construction and cabinetmaking. In the next year, staff plan to introduce a Communication Technology Program that includes a broadcasting class, as well as a fashion design course for the FACS pathway that includes upcycling used clothing. 

Brooklyn Center Community Schools is committed to providing the highest quality CTE programs and opportunities for students to expand their horizons and prepare them for life after graduation. 

For more information about any of the CTE programs, contact Julie Gloege at jgloege@bccs286.org.