Riverside Unified Highlights Career Readiness Programs At State Of The District Event

Over the past year, Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) officials have touted its Career Technical Education (CTE) programs for being able to prepare students for real world scenarios. 

Those skills were put on display yesterday at the annual state of the district event, RUSD’s Superintendent Sonia Llamas said, noting that students and staff had just two days to move the event to a new indoor location due to the potential for rain. 

“That is what this evening is about, not simply celebrating awards or recognizing exceptional programs, but celebrating the students behind those accomplishments and the opportunities that make their success possible,” Llamas said at the October 22 event. “Look at today, in a matter of two days, our entire district pivoted.” 

The annual showcase puts students front-and-center to highlight RUSD’s range of programs as officials provide the community with an overview of the district’s status. Originally the district was set to host this year’s event at the Riverside Municipal Airport.

Llamas told The Riverside Record she wanted to provide a chance for the community to visit a location that many may not have stepped foot in before. She added that staff had even researched historical weather forecasts to choose a date they believed had a minimal chance of rain. Despite the preparations, the district made the choice to move the event indoors to Ramona High School’s gymnasium and auditorium. 

That change, however, did not stop students from showcasing their achievements. High school students showed off their recently-built robots while others shared their passion for sports medicine. 

Lee Hatch, a senior at Martin Luther King High School, displayed some of the equipment she used as part of the technical theater and live event production program booth for a recent production of “Footloose.”

“I have committed to a college, and I don’t plan on continuing with tech theater, but I know that the skills that I learned through CTE, the leadership, the public speaking, everything that I have gained along the way, is going to help me in my future career,” said Hatch, who plans on becoming a mammalogist or wildlife veterinarian. 

RUSD parents, eager to explore potential future pathways with their young children, also weren’t deterred by the last-minute change in location.

“Some are in sports, some are into technology,” Jason Callens, a father of three, said. “I’m just hoping they can either keep going [on] what they want or [maybe] find something new.” 

Llamas, as part of her speech, said the district had made strides over the last few years to provide opportunities for students to grow in all aspects of their lives. 

She said enrollment in after school programs had doubled over the past two years and that more students have started participating in the district’s dual high school and college class program. She also shared individual stories of teenage students using what they learned in their classrooms to engage civically. 

This next year, she told The Record, the district plans to increase the number of partnerships it has both citywide and with higher education institutions, as outlined in the district’s recently-updated five year strategic plan. It’s something Llamas said she believes will open new doors for current and future RUSD students.

“Our efforts [of] changing trajectories for students for generations to come is not the work of one individual, it is about the collective effort of the community and how we can build upon one another,” she said.