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CAB Academy offers focused learning

The Communication, Arts and Business (CAB) Academy at New London High School is helping students accelerate their learning in several career cluster areas.

The CAB Academy is geared for students who are creative and enjoy performing, planning, promoting, traveling, and working with computers. Students interested in creating video games, owning their own business, or being in a position to make decisions may also enjoy the CAB Academy.

The CAB Academy is heavily involved in the spring play, Forensics, DECA, Art Club, Art Team, foreign language and international trips, and the fall musical.

A list of possible occupations that are pathways of the CAB Academy include marketing and professional sales to writing and animation.

Career clusters and classes covered by CAB include:

•
Marketing, Sales,
Hospitality and Tourism

o Principles of Marketing

o Advanced Marketing

o Introduction to Business

o Economics or Sociology

o Statistics

o
Photography &
Printing Technology

o Web Page Design

•
Business, Marketing
and Administration

o Economics or Sociology

o Statistics

o
2.5 credits of any Business courses

• Finance

o Economics

o Statistics

o Advanced Accounting

o
Business and
Personal Finance

•
Information and
Audio/Visual Technology

o Web Page Design

o Yearbook

o Computer Applications

o Drafting

o Desktop Publishing

o
Photography &
Printing Technology

o Graphic Technology

• Communication and Arts

o 4 credits of Band, or

o 4 credits of Choir, or

o 4 credits or Art, or

o
4 credits of a
World Language

Students must take three credits from one of the first four career clusters or four credits from the Communication and Arts cluster to receive a graduation certificate from the CAB Academy.

Todd Koeller is the CAB Academy coordinator. He is joined by instructors Mike Waldvogel (Business), Missy Porath (Marketing/SEM), Bob Smith (Art), Mariah Ervin (Special Education), Jim Fischer (Social Studies), Callie Cochran-Hager (English), Lori Flury (Music/Choir), Adam Hardt (Music/Band), Beth Nelson (Spanish), and John Ruckdashel (Science).

“As a school district, New London emphasizes the three Rs – rigor, relevance and relationships,” commented Koeller. “That’s part of the reason we moved to an academy structure. We’re not a huge school, but this structure helps us take a school of 800 kids and break it down into four academies with 200 kids in each academy. As teachers, we get to know our students very well, and that’s key to the relationship part of the three Rs.

“Our academies cover most occupations students might consider. They have opportunities to choose an academy and then take classes that give more meaning to a potential career in a field they are interested in,” continued Koeller. “They don’t have to stay in one academy throughout high school; they can change academies if they want to. This approach helps them emphasize an interest and gain a better understanding of what it takes to have a career in a certain field. That’s relevance.

“The academy structure also allows kids to be involved in real-life projects. We are currently pondering opening a school store downtown for one month out of the year,” explained Koeller. “This store would be run by the students, and they would gain real-life experience in everything from making change to advanced accounting. There are all kinds of different business, marketing, and communication components that could be integrated. We could sell artwork from the art students, cabinets made by wood shop students, and other materials made by students.

“We hope to give students projects that increase in difficulty each year throughout their four years of high school,” concluded Koeller. “Then, we hope to institute a capstone-type project that pulls it all together to showcase what they’ve learned in their four years. That’s the emphasis on rigorous studies.”

To learn more about the CAB Academy, visit http://cabacademy.weebly.com. The site features a brief contact form for prospective students to fill out so that they can learn more about a specific career cluster covered under the CAB Academy umbrella.

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