Career and Technical Education Department

The Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department at Phillipsburg Middle School provides students with courses in Family & Consumer Science (FCS) and STEM/Graphic Design. Students will be provided with many problem-based tasks with which to work through the content. In addition, students will find themselves working on employability skills necessary for FCS and STEM/Graphic Design careers.

 

This class provides students with the essential knowledge and skills for managing the challenges of living and
working in a diverse, global society. Students are offered the opportunity to acquire knowledge about
themselves and others through self-reflection and various group activities. Content emphasizes collaborative
and time management skills, problem-solving, health and nutrition, factors involved in the study of safe
equipment use, apparel and textiles, food preparation, and proper etiquette. Family and Consumer Science
classroom concepts are also integrated with other academic areas, including the use of the computer as a design
tool, writing, public speaking, using math for measuring and graphing, along with an appreciation of food from
other cultures.

STEM/Graphic Design

The students will still be exposed to many of the same STEM ideals from the lens of a graphic designer. Students will be thinking critically, analyzing real-world problems, researching, designing prototype solutions, making any necessary revisions, and presenting a final product. In the new course, students will be presented with real-world problems or scenarios and asked to produce a product. The product will be designed using numerous online platforms and software such as Tinkercad, Scratch, Quick Draw, Canva, Vectr, etc.  Students will use the engineering design process to ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve before submitting their final product. In this course, persistence will be developed and encouraged so that students can look past a mistake to learn from it and improve the product. Some examples of assignments will include environmental awareness posters, pixel art, game design, and other computer-aided designs for real-world problems.