Lindsay Duran, the Chandler Unified School District’s director of career and technical education, goes over some changes that will affect the district’s 21 CTE programs in 2025-26.
In addition to adding semiconductor as its 21st technical career pathway in 2025-26, the Chandler Unified School District has some other changes in store related to its career and technical education programs.
The district’s CTE director, Lindsay Duran, addressed some of those changes in a Feb. 26 CUSD Governing Board work session and in answering board member questions.
In response to a question about internships and workplace preparedness, Duran said a newly approved course for CTE high school juniors and seniors will be called Mentorships-Internships-Careers, or MIC.
That class is meant to be a support class for students who are partnering with local businesses in an internship or a similar arrangement.
Duran explained the full-year course would use the fall semester as an extension of teaching needed career professional skills, with the spring being for the on-site internships, likely off-campus.
“We’ve found plenty of partners for these internships,” Duran said. “The trouble we’re having is that many half-day seniors like their schedules, and don’t want to be on campus for that extra time of each school day.”
The description of the MIC class states it will expose students to “industry-relevant, real-world experiences.” The student must be a junior or a senior and enrolled in a CTE concentrated program.
Duran said at an April meeting, Patrick Brown, the district’s workforce development coordinator, will present to the board about internships and will take questions.
When asked if CUSD students are usually paid or unpaid interns, Duran didn’t mention any examples of arrangements in which Chandler students are paid in that way. But she said if any company or organization can follow all laws, rules and regulations, including those regarding workers younger than 18, CUSD would be willing to discuss ways students could be compensated for their work.
Duran said she’s spoken with the CTE instruction team about the need to add more “soft skills,” such as professional email decorum and writing specific to each student’s career field.
“We need to have curriculum maps that are ever-changing, so we’re always updating those, and we poll our CTE teachers regularly on curriculum needs and shifts,” Duran said. “So when we have one-on-one (meetings) in July, we’ll cover a lot of that.”
Board member Kurt Rohrs seemed to be more interested in less-basic career soft skills, such as entrepreneurial priorities and project management.
Duran said another key addition that will aid the CTE programs is a new junior high and middle-school course. That’s called “Discovering Your Path” and is a self-discovery class meant to help reveal interests and possible academic and career goals.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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