Tuesday, October 18, 2022

DINUBA, Calif — A high school program was recognized for its one-of-a-kind hands-on learning academy.

“This work was not done by one person like you heard today. It’s a group of people that are coming together with a vision about really changing the trajectory of lives in our community," said Superintendent Joe Hernandez, [of] the Dinuba Unified School District.

He says their goal is to end generational poverty through education and to prepare everyone for college and careers after high school.

Both Dinuba Unified School District and the Linked Learning Alliance awarded the program, Construction Management Academy, with a prestigious certification, the “Linked Learning Gold Certification", on Tuesday afternoon.

The Linked Learning Gold Certification is awarded to school pathway programs that have shown a high standard for college and career preparedness.

The program is the first pathway out of the Central Valley to be certified. A big honor for the few selected Dinuba students, faculty, and staff who are involved as they set the leading example for other schools, they said.

In addition to learning in the classroom, students are getting hands-on experience through their studies and are getting linked to professionals in their field before graduating.

“We’ve gotten to work with the city, we have visited companies, they’ve showed us their work. We’ve gotten opportunities to work with them," said Jesus Ayon, a Senior student in the program.

“I take it very seriously because there are some people that are barely starting to figure out how to do this as an adult, and we’re already getting hands-on experience as Seniors and even Juniors sometimes," said Victor Alcaraz, another Senior student in the program.

With their learning experience, many students are able to go home and put their training into practice.

“People come up with little projects for him knowing that he has experience with it. He’s helped family build sheds, outdoor furniture," said Robert Valenzuela, a Dinuba Unified parent whose student is in the program.

Throughout the program, students receive mentorship, early college credits and certifications.

This year, students are working on two projects.

They're building a home and they've partnered with the City of Dinuba to build a Pavilion at Rose Ann Vuich Park.

Source: FOX26 News