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June 10, 2020Pathways Academy launches the careers of four students
From prospective high school dropouts to college students and fruitful members of working society. That’s the path for four area high school seniors, members of the Capital Region BOCES Pathways Academy, who will graduate in June.
The four students attend the two-year-old school located on the Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School Albany Campus as a means of making up classes they didn’t have success with earlier in order to graduate high school. At the same time, they learn employability skills, such as how to prepare for a job interview and how to effectively communicate.
“I used to get C’s at my home school and now I am getting A’s and B’s. I used to not have the motivation to go to school and I would skip the majority of the time. At Pathways, I look forward to coming to school,” said Alexandria “Rosita” Guerra, who attends the Academy from Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without Pathways,” said Guerra.
Guerra is joined in the Pathways Academy Class of 2020 by Brenden Frank of Mohonasen, Percy Claus of Niskayuna and David VanVranken of Watervliet.
The academy offers students in grades 9 through 12 an opportunity to take all of the required classes for graduation, including making up classes they didn’t have success with earlier. At the same time, they learn employability skills, such as how to prepare for a job interview and how to effectively communicate. They also meet with area business leaders and visit various businesses in the region to better understand the region’s workforce.
VanVranken plans to attend the University at Albany and credits Pathways for providing the learning environment he needed to graduate.
“I learned significant life skills at Pathways because it was more flexible here,” he said.
“Pathways was a better fit for me because it made the workload much more manageable and the smaller class sizes made it easier to get individual help,” Claus said.
Claus, who also attends the Culinary Program at the Career and Technical School, plans to move to Australia and attend culinary school there.
For Frank, Pathways proved successful because of the smaller class size and individualized focus.
“I like it here because its drama free and you get to learn what you like,” said Frank, who also attended the Welding Program at the Career and Technical School. “I can come here, learn what I need and work on my welding.”
During its first two years of operation, the Pathways Academy has already seen 12 students graduate, some of whom went on to the workforce and others who went on to graduate.
Frank plans to enter the workforce, while his classmates envision further education in their lives.
“I am 100 percent going into the welding industry, nothing is going to pull me away from it,” he said.
To a person, the soon-to-be-graduates praise the Pathways Academy and its faculty for providing an environment that made learning easy and fun.
“It’s not only a good place to learn but it’s also fun and creates a safe place where you can make new friends and a family,” said Claus.
