Here are few of our latest Student Success Stories. There will be more added, but for now, check out Racheal Nyarko, Community Protector; Marc Snooks, Information Sponge; and David Yoder, Spark Enthusiast.

MARC SNOOKS: INFORMATION SPONGE

Heading into his junior year at Beaverton Jr./Sr. High School, Marc Snooks faced an important decision about his future.

“When I started CTE, I wasn’t sure if I was making the right decision by not taking college courses directly instead,” Snooks said. “I knew I could get a head start by dual enrolling and gaining college credits, but decided to spend my junior year getting as close to an industry I was interested in as possible through CTE.”

The CTE course was Digital Media. And now Snooks, after graduating from the University of Michigan last spring, credits that CTE experience with helping him arrive in his current job as a Video Production Technician for One Diversified, a partner of Dow’s in Midland.

While Snooks - the BHS Class of 2020’s salutatorian - brought a high level of innate ability to the Digital Media program (more on that in a moment), he also found CTE’s time-tested soft skills teachings valuable as well.

“The most important skills that I learned from CTE didn’t necessarily come from course materials or other state-mandated checkboxes,” Snooks said. “Working with other students in hand with the method of instruction taught me how to collaborate professionally in a manner that I would utilize daily, both during college and in the workforce now.

“Sure,” he added, “I learned much more than I can feasibly list within the realm of Digital Media. However, what I cherished afterward most was what made the program different from any other educational program I had before. Personal responsibility, mutual respect, and industry realism are all great examples that I took with me as tools to aid my future.”

As Snooks discovered, students come into CTE with varied levels of skills and experience. Because of the way CTE courses are structured, instructors like DM’s Jim Langley are able to customize lesson plans to suit those differences and drive students in just the right ways.

“Jim knew what questions to personalize for each of his students and how to push each student akin to their respective abilities,” Snooks said. “There were days that I had to sit and question my own range of capability. It was a challenge I had never received in my years of schooling before, something that still sticks with me today.”

Those lessons served Snooks well in college and continue to pay dividends in his career.

“Jim’s course taught me that not every challenge could be easily figured out in a day or found on the Internet,” he said. “It challenged me to solve problems that didn’t have pre-determined solutions. It taught me how to self-reflect, improve and mature. All these things prepared me for the challenges of both a top university and the mammoth that is the workforce.”

As today’s local high schoolers make the decision whether to try CTE, Snooks’ internal debate when he was in their position now seems quaint.

“Being a student that was in the shoes of today’s high school kids, I don’t think I can understand their level of opportunity any more than I already do,” he said. “Knowing that students have access to methods of education within CTE that some districts either do not or cannot provide themselves, I cannot stress the importance of the program more.”

Snooks said both the technical and life lessons he gained in CTE lingered long after he had left the program.

“My experience in CTE provided me with a safety net to fall back on during my time in college,” he said. “When I wasn’t sure where to go and what path was right for me, the experiences and knowledge I gained from the Digital Media program allowed a solid base for me to build off from and find my path.”

Snooks isn’t that far removed from his days as a CTE student. But in his new status as an early-career taxpayer, he doesn’t think there’s much room for debate as voters consider the millage renewal on May 6.

“There isn’t really anything to consider,” he said. “The program is instrumental for hundreds of high school students in learning new avenues for successful futures. A renewal that won’t act as a detriment to the life of a local citizen today in any way, but provides such a needed and powerful service, is not considerable; it is necessary.”