Editor’s note: In recognition of Career Technical Education Month, the Telegraph will present a series of stories on North Florida Technical College.
BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Bradford High School students and Bradford Middle School eighth-graders learn how to work with the Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator programs as part of the Digital Design Academy at North Florida Technical College, but they also benefit from information that will serve them well no matter what career path they choose.
Teacher Donna Harris said part of her program consists of a career section in which students learn about the various opportunities within the career of digital design, such as marketing and photography.
Students’ design projects adorn the walls of the classroom. Harris said she asks each student for what they think are their top-three designs.
“I want them to see what they created. That’s why you see a lot of their work on our walls,” Harris said, adding, “We try to create that design portfolio so that when they leave out of here, they have some work that they’ve done.”
Students not only create portfolios. They learn the ins and outs of resumes and college applications.
“We create resumes,” Harris said. “We actually fill out a job description on Indeed. They do get told no when they figure out their age, but they do actually apply for actual design jobs just to get the feel of it.
“We also do a whole section for two weeks on applying to colleges that offer design programs. They actually really do have to log in and fill the application out.”
Students also get to work on what are called soft skills.
“The soft skills are your customer-service skills,” Harris said. “How do you speak to the public? How do you apply for a job? How do you answer a telephone? What is a question someone would ask during an interview? How do you answer some of the harder questions?”
Harris said she’ll have her students role play as part of a mock job interview.
It’s part of preparing students for future success, no matter their career path. In fact, Harris said she has a student who basically takes her class so he can learn about applying to college online. He intends to pursue a career in nursing.
That’s OK with Harris. As a vocational teacher, her goal is to help students find out where their talents lie and how to achieve their goals, no matter what career field it is.
“That’s what we’re trying to do here, for them to know what skills they do have and what jobs they are interested in,” Harris said. “My job, basically, is not to teach them, but to help them find the resources to get them there. That’s really what vocational training is all about — finding the resources to get them there.”
Harris is a big believer in the value of vocational education, something she’s been a part of for 28 years, with 11 of those years coming in Digital Design. Vocational education at North Florida Technical College specifically is something that means a lot. Her parents took classes there — her father in welding and her mother in medical. Her aunt attended NFTC as well, studying cosmetology.
“My family has benefitted greatly from vocational program,” Harris said.
She was no stranger to NFTC when she began teaching there. She said she walked on the campus when she was as young as 4 and took classes there herself, including in the very classroom in which Digital Design is offered.
“I know this campus all too well,” Harris said.
What she likes about NFTC is the fact that students are learning from people who know what they’re teaching. They’re people who’ve worked in the field. Harris, for example, employs marketing and digital-design strategies as the owner of a small business.
Harris said if you walk by the welding class, you walk by a teacher who’s a real welder. If you walk by the criminal justice class, you walk by a teacher who works in law enforcement.
“You don’t have someone who’s just read about it. You have someone who lives it and does it every day,” Harris said. “That’s the type of instructor you get (at NFTC).”
