Tell City schools spotlight wide range of CTE programs for students

Tell City schools spotlight wide range of CTE programs for students

Tell City Jr.-Sr. High School is making a practical case for career training: a May 31 live-feed post from Tell City-Troy Township School Corp put 15 career and technical education pathways in front of Perry County families and made clear that students do not have to wait until after graduation to start building job-ready skills. The district’s message was straightforward. CTE teachers help students build real-world skills, explore career interests, and prepare for success in the workplace and beyond.

What students can study right now

The district’s pathway list is broad enough to cover students headed in very different directions. Tell City Jr.-Sr. High School currently offers Marketing and Sales, Culinary Arts, Automotive Services, Ag Mechanical and Engineering, Healthcare Specialist, Television Broadcasting, Civic Arts, Education Careers, Industrial Technology Maintenance-Electrical, Social and Community Services, Welding Technology, Aviation Management, Criminal Justice, Physical Therapy, and Computer Science.

That range matters because it gives students a place to start inside the same school community, whether they want to work with their hands, move toward a licensed health field, or build toward a tech job or college major. A student drawn to welding or industrial maintenance can spend high school in a shop-based track. Another student can start with computer science, broadcasting, or education careers and still leave with experience that lines up with a certificate, an apprenticeship, college enrollment, or direct entry into the workforce.

For Perry County families trying to judge whether CTE is worth the time, the answer is in the variety. These are not one-off electives. They are structured routes that can help a student test an interest early, gain practical experience, and leave high school with a clearer plan.

How CTE connects to graduation and next steps

The local push also fits into Indiana’s broader graduation framework. Under Graduation Pathways, students can individualize requirements around enrollment, employment, or enlistment leading to service. Indiana’s class of 2023 was the first cohort to graduate under that framework, which means CTE is no longer a side option. It sits inside the state’s larger postsecondary planning model.

That is important in Tell City because it makes career education part of the conversation about what comes after high school. A student who wants to work after graduation can build toward employment. A student aiming for college can use CTE to get exposure to a field before paying tuition. A student considering military service can still benefit from technical training, discipline, and work habits developed through these programs.

The district’s own framing reflects that shift. CTE is presented not only as a way to keep students engaged in school, but as a path that connects classroom work to certifications, apprenticeships, college, and jobs. In a county where many families want education to lead somewhere concrete, that connection is the point.

Why Perry County is paying attention

The local workforce angle is not abstract. In October 2025, more than 200 eighth-grade students from Cannelton City Schools, Perry Central Community School Corporation, and Tell City-Troy Township Schools took part in the Perry County Tour of Opportunities, visiting employers and training sites across the county. The tour included ATTC Manufacturing, Waupaca Foundry, Webb Wheel, and the Ivy Tech Tell City Career and Technology Center.

That kind of exposure matters because it shows students what the county actually needs. Indiana employer data identifies ATTC Manufacturing Inc. in Tell City as a major Perry County employer and lists the company on State Road 37, a reminder that local industry is not somewhere else, it is right here. When students can see manufacturing floors, technical centers, and training pathways in the same county where they live, the school-to-work connection becomes easier to understand.

The district’s later live-feed posts reinforce that idea. Tell City Jr.-Sr. High School has also highlighted students in an aviation course in Huntingburg and students competing in an FFA Welding Competition at Vincennes University. Those examples show CTE as active, year-round work, not just a classroom label. They also show students getting beyond the building and into spaces where real equipment, real expectations, and real career interests meet.

The national CTE push gives local programs added weight

Tell City’s post came alongside a bigger national effort. Career and Technical Education Month is a public awareness campaign hosted by ACTE and sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders. The U.S. Department of Education proclaimed February 2026 National Career and Technical Education Month and urged schools, businesses, community organizations, and families to recognize CTE year round.

That national recognition helps explain why local districts keep spotlighting these programs. CTE is not just about celebrating shop classes or naming a few student successes. It is about showing how schools prepare students for the labor market, for advanced training, and for the practical decisions families make after high school.

For Perry County, the value is especially local. A strong CTE program means students can begin training in fields tied to manufacturing, healthcare, skilled trades, aviation, media, and technology without leaving the district to get started. That gives families more than a slogan about career readiness. It gives them a school system that is already laying out concrete options for the next step, and in a county built around making a living close to home, that is the kind of education program that can matter for years to come.