Through the number of industry based certifications earned and several unique community involvement and engagement, the Career and Tech Association of Texas members named Aledo ISD as one of 38 public school districts as a District of Distinction.

With a focus on hands-on learning and real-world applications, the districts’ career and technical education classes help students develop critical skills and work to ensure students graduate with the experience and confidence to thrive in high-demanding industries.

“Honestly, just being able to work with new people is a lot of times you’re not going to choose our groups,” engineering science junior Cael O’Hara said. “Being able to work with new people every time and just teamwork, all right.”

In the last two years in engineering classes, O’Hara has had to learn to work efficiently independently and in collaboration with classmates, skills necessary in all fields past high school.

Various CTE pathways include courses pertaining to engineering, aviation and business along with media production and robotic, and business teacher Heather Cortez said she is inspired to teach students the skills they’ll need to jump into the workforce.

“I get to provide industry-aligned curriculum and give them hands on experience for the work force,” Cortez said. “In today’s society, we kind of tend to lean on our devices, so kids can have the skills to have a one-on-one conversation.

Business management junior Hayley Hill said once reason the program is strong and successful is because they have to learn about all the different types of management and that it prepares them for problems in real-world business situations.