Jennifer Hinderer
When you walk across the stage and receive your high school diploma, there’s a rush of accomplishment mixed with feelings of concern for what everyone calls the real world.
Dublin City Schools’ Emerald Campus works to helps students feel excited and prepared to make that transition post-graduation.
With a range of pathways to choose from, the Emerald Campus provides unique curricula that prepare students for work or further study no matter where their interests lie.
Stepping stones
The Dublin Emerald Campus was established in 2018 with the goal of fostering both a sense of community between high schools as well as invaluable professional skills to help high school students develop into independent adults.
Jennifer Hinderer
The most unique opportunities lie within the more than 10 academies, including everything from aviation to hospitality to biomed. The academies are open to all Dublin City Schools students with courses offered in two-period blocks that are tailored to each student’s needs.
“Whether you’re in engineering or in aviation, or IT and cybersecurity, you’re learning job skills. You’re learning what it takes to actually be working in (these fields) ...This is knowledge that kids need to have,” says Coordinator of Pathways Jennifer Hinderer.
Choosing a potential pathway comes down to factors such as personal interest and career aptitude. When it comes time for students to decide if they will pursue a pathway, they are well-prepped to seamlessly integrate traditional schooling with the more specific academies at the Emerald Campus.
“Every school does (a) visit when they are sophomores... Those conversations are happening so that when the time comes to decide, they’ve had the exposure, and they’ve had the conversations about what their strengths are and where they want to go,” says Hinderer.
Hands-on learning
The thing that sets the Emerald Campus apart is the emphasis on hands-on professional experience. Students leave behind the constraints of desks and exams to gain real-world experience in professional settings that they can apply to their long-term career goals.
Jennifer Hinderer
“We try to bring that real world learning into everything. Our aviation students spend two days a week out at OSU Airport... Eighteen of our students who graduated from our Dublin Teacher Academy actually worked over the summer as para-pros in our extended school year,” says Hinderer. “We have our Young Professionals Academy... they actually go into the workplace for six weeks at a time and they have internships and job placements.”
One of the most interesting experiences is the Dublin Business Academy (DBA) where juniors and seniors learn the ins and outs of running a business.
The DBA doesn’t lecture students on the skills they will need; it puts those skills into practice in their student-run small business. The business focuses on designing, producing and marketing school spirit wear for their respective high schools.
“Kids are assigned a schedule... for these weeks you’re doing production. For these weeks, you are fulfilling orders and doing the accounting side. For these few weeks, you’re doing the marketing and the advertising. They have different times, and they rotate so they’re learning all the different pieces of it as they go,” says Hinderer.
By offering hands-on learning, the Emerald Campus helps them to further realize their goals and build the skills that will distinguish them in a professional setting while also helping them grow as people.
Avery Gillis is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
