Members of the School Committee and other school and town leaders attended a partial screening last Tuesday of the film “Multiple Choice.”
The Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns hosted a screening of the documentary, which focused on rethinking high school education with a pathway toward career and technology, followed by discussions with its producer, Ted Dintersmith, for municipal leaders and educators.
School Committee members Joe Rotella, Phanida Phivilay, Carolyn Thornton-Iannuccilli, Schools Superintendent Scott Sutherland, Assistant Superintendent Susan Craven, Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. and several members of the Town Council.
The film explores the history of American education, highlighting how an emphasis on “high-stakes testing” and a “college for all” mindset has often overshadowed meaningful career preparation.
Some of the pathway courses include computer science, pre-engineering, cosmetology, hospitality and tourism and visual and digital arts.
The screening came at the perfect time, as the school district began to review its plan for creating a more functional career and technical program.
Since Sutherland and Craven began with the school district in October, one of the first things they did was visit middle-school students and ask them and their parents what they would like to see offered in the program.
“Since myself and Susan were appointed in October, we’ve been able to get the state Department of Education’s approval for six pathway courses next year with 12 expected for the following year,” Sutherland said.
The first reading of a new facility plan for the career and technical school annex was tabled by the committee during the Dec. 9 meeting because Sutherland wanted to get more concrete budget numbers, but he’s expected to read the district’s first draft of the new proposed career and technical school’s facility annex plan at the Jan. 16 School Committee meeting.
Craven said the film was right on track, and called it 21st century thinking.
“I feel that Dintersmith recognizes that not every student is college bound,” she said. “But it shouldn’t be all one or the other. We want to make sure students get everything they need to make the more informed decisions possible.”
Thornton-Iannuccilli said the film is very relevant to the Johnson School District through the Pathways Program.
“It was a very interesting presentation that went back into history and talked about how relevant agriculture was back then, then it evolved to the factories and how important it was and that it evolved into establishing businesses,” she said.
“We all learn in different ways,” she said. “It’s not just about getting a job; it’s about life. Everyone benefits when students are on the right path and we want our schools to reflect that. This presentation could benefit any school district.”
Thornton-Iannuccilli said the goal is to keep the kids in this district and helping them explore whatever they’re interested in and to do that, they need to be informed.
Phivilay said the discussion examined what the future of workforce development should look like and how communities can better support student success.
“For Johnston, this means seriously considering the development of a vocational pathway or full Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center at the high school,” she said. “Such an expansion would offer significant long-term cost-saving benefits for the district and for the families we serve. Currently, many of our high school students leave the district to attend CTE programs not offered at Johnston Senior High School, presenting an ongoing challenge that urgently needs to be addressed.”
Johnston is now exploring a similar vision – a robust CTE program that not only meets the needs of Johnston students but also attracts students from surrounding communities.
Rotello is excited about the possibility of new career and technology pathways for students.
“We need to concentrate on programs that will offer hands-on skill and industry certifications so we can prepare our students for life after they leave Johnston High School,” the committee chairman said. “We anticipate seeing higher graduation rates and better earning potential, especially for at-risk students who are not following the traditional college path.”
Rotello said this does not happen in a vacuum.
“It was very encouraging to see so many of our town leaders participating in the discussion. We are thrilled to have the support of Mayor Polisena and the Town Council working side by side with the School Committee to make this a priority in our school system. This will be a path our students can take that will run in conjunction with traditional college prep giving them more choices and directions. With rapid advancement of AI, this will further prepare our students for the new tech would ahead.”
Polisina said the event focused on incorporating CTE pathways in all schools and encouraging all students to take them, regardless of their intentions after graduation.
“The entire discussion was formulated around how high school is no longer preparing kids for life, but instead, teaching them to test,” Polisena said.
He questioned what it means to say a student is “proficient” in reading and math if they graduate a four-year college with thousands upon thousands of debt and a job that doesn’t give them the ability to pay the debt back.
He said students should instead continue the basics of reading, writing, science and math but also be required to take a CTE pathway.
The idea is that not only will taking the pathway be engaging to the student, but it will also help them build confidence and be better prepared for life, and they may even decide they want their career path to be in that field.