14 RSHS students inducted into the National Technical Honor Society

RICHMOND COUNTY — Fourteen Richmond Senior High School students were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society during a small ceremony on Thursday evening.

Several Richmond County School Board members, Richmond County School administrators, and Richmond Senior High School leadership, staff, and teachers were present to celebrate the special moment for the students and their families.

Honored during the ceremony were: Calli Byrd, Autumn Chavis, Kiersten Davis, Edriana Janay Davis, Chloe Foster, Graylen Hall, Ann Nguyen, Kimbrly Quick, Citlali Jimenez Rodriguez, Ashley Ryals, Macy Steen, Joydan Styles, Cadence Thompson, and Bethzaira Lopez Zapata.

Greg Norton, the RCS Career and Technical Education Director, said the ceremony recognized some of the best of Richmond County Schools.

“These students have worked so hard for this accomplishment,” he said. “With the support of their teachers and families, they have proven themselves to be successful for life after high school. It’s always good to see our students be committed to excellence.”

The NTHS is an educational non-profit that exists to honor, recognize, and empower students and teachers in Career & Technical Education. It strives to help connect education and industry to build a highly skilled workforce.

Many parents may think that college is mandatory to be able to sustain a family. Norton said there is nothing wrong with learning a trade or specialty and not attending a four-year university to earn a degree.

“Plumbers, electricians, and welders have the opportunity to make a lot of money,” he said. “I know because they graduate and go obtain those skills, they make more money than me.”

Norton said the CTE program isn’t about how much one will make after high school but rather about striving for excellence in life.

CTE’s core values are to reward excellence in workforce education; to develop self-esteem, pride and encourage students to reach for higher levels of achievement; to promote business and industry’s workplace values; to help schools build and maintain effective partnerships with local businesses and industry; and to champion a stronger, more positive image for workforce education.

During the ceremony, Beth McDougald, a Richmond Senior CTE Health Services teacher, said the Raider inductees have shown a great aptitude in their chosen trade and have demonstrated an extraordinary amount of effort to be recognized.

“The National Technical Honor Society believes in empowering and supporting students in their quest to master a skill and embark on a career they love,” she said.

One of the students recognized during the induction ceremony was Richmond senior EJ Davis.  She will attend Winston-Salem State University in the fall to begin her journey to becoming an occupational therapist.

Jason Perakis, Richmond Senior High School Career Development Coordinator, said Davis and the other 13 inductees should be incredibly proud of their accomplishments.

“These students are dedicated to Career Technical Education and their chosen pathways and professions,” he said after the ceremony. “They have excelled themselves to the highest recognition of a CTE student.”

Perakis said the students inducted during the ceremony had a 3.5 or higher unweighted grade point average, completed all courses in their pathway, and were active members of their Career Technical Student Organization.

“These students will be the leaders in their field,” he said.

CTE, a federally funded program, is an integral part of the comprehensive secondary school program in Richmond County Schools. CTE provides course offerings that meet student needs, interests, abilities, and aspirations. The availability of specific courses is determined by response to opportunities for employment, advanced education, and practical life application.

RCS offers CTE courses in areas of agriculture, foods, and natural resources, architecture & construction, arts, audio/visual technology, & communications, business management & administration, finance, health science, hospitality & tourism, human services, information technology, law, public safety, corrections, & security, manufacturing, marketing, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, transportation, distribution, and logistics.

“We want all of our students to be successful after graduation,” Norton said. “CTE is one path for our students to be productive members of the community. We are preparing them for that new journey in life.”

For more information about Richmond County School’s CTE program, visit its website: https://www.richmond.k12.nc.us/District/Department/16542-Career-Technical-Education.