Mission, Texas- The opportunities for Mission CISD (Consolidated Independent School District) students to earn professional certifications while in high school continues to grow. An example of this is in the area of criminal justice offerings. This year marked the first year that criminal justice students at Veterans Memorial High School completed training and testing to earn Texas Private Security Level II certification. A total of 63 VMHS students were awarded their certifications this year. Returning students will have an opportunity to expand upon that by pursuing 9-1-1 National Emergency Communication Certification (NECC) next school year. This would qualify them to apply to work in emergency dispatch centers. This past school year, Mission High School has 14 students earn the Security Level II certification and 26 earn the 9-1-1 NECC.
Mission CISD officials continue to work with South Texas College and local officials to adjust course offerings that will help students prepare for the workforce. “One of the important aspects of our Career Technology programs is how they not only prepare students to enter the professional workforce, but also sets them up to continue their education,” explained Sergio Pena, director for Career Technical Education (CTE). For many students, this opens the door to a job that they need to help pay for college. While many of our students are also completed college hours as a part of our programs. So they already have a jump-start on college degree.”
This past school year, Mission CISD students earned 1,006 industry-based certifications. This included: patient care technician, 9; precision manufacturing technology, 9; multimedia specialist, 97; structured welding, 17; technical design, 3; licensed beautician, 49; certified nurse assistant, 22; phlebotomy, 16, EKG, 15; CPR, 109; Texas Private Security Level II, 77; NECC 9-1-1, 26; MOS Office Word, 192; MOS Excel, 49; MOS PowerPoint, 257; MOS Access, 4; Adobe Illustrator, 7; Adobe InDesign, 37; Adobe Photoshop, 10; Adobe Premiere, 1.
Another 60 students are scheduled to take their certification exams this summer in: pharmacy technician, certified nurse assistant, phlebotomy, and welding.
Pictured are VMHS students who are the first from its criminal justice programs to earn the state Private Security Level II certification.
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