Students practice their baking skills during a summer 2021 program at Michael Berry Career Center. MBCC will host an online event for students and parents on Feb. 23 and an in-person open house on March 2.
DEARBORN — Michael Berry Career Center will host two events in the coming weeks to help students and parents explore many of the career and technical education options in Dearborn Public Schools.
The district will host a virtual event Feb. 23 highlighting all the CTE programs available at MBCC and the district’s three traditional high schools, Dearborn, Edsel Ford and Fordson. The online event will run from 6 to 7 p.m. on the district’s YouTube channel, Comcast channel 19, and the DPS Facebook page.
The program will talk about nine career areas with classes available for district high school students. The list includes automotive technology, Business Academy, construction trades, computer science, criminal justice and law, culinary arts and tourism, digital design and media, education careers and health sciences.
MBCC will host a live open house from 6 to 7:30 p.m. March 2 at the center, 22586 Ann Arbor Trail, Dearborn Heights. Parents and prospective students can stop by the campus to meet staff and students; view equipment, materials and sample student projects; learn about college credit for CTE classes; visit with local employers to hear about job opportunities; and tour the facility and learn about career programs.
Parents can learn more about the district’s career and technical education program by visiting the MBCC website. MBCC is a partial day program. Students in grades 10 to 12, take core classes, like math and English Language Arts, at their home high school and then are bused to MBCC for either morning or afternoon sessions in career and technical areas.
Career classes still include traditional vocational-technical areas, like auto shop, but today’s CTE also allows students to explore white collar jobs such as computer programming, teaching and marketing.
“I love helping students find a career that really interests them,” said John Bayerl, who oversees the district’s career and technical programs. “Finding something they are passionate about can change a student’s entire perspective about school and make them a more excited learner in all their classes.”