ROP Gives Career Experience to AHS Students

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JOYCE LAM

Editor in Chief

When students reach high school, it is time to think about life after secondary education. High school is important because it is a place for students to figure out what majors they are interested in and what careers seem promising. That is why the Alhambra Unified School District, in collaboration with 23 other school districts, offers the Regional Occupation Program (ROP).

The ROP program is very different from the academic classes held at school. ROP classes help students learn job searching techniques, gain work skills, and give students hands-on, real-world situations that normal academic courses may not provide.

“Students get to test out the [career that they are interested in] and they get to see what they would take for college classes. It’s a head start in the career field,” said ROP counselor Janice Liu.

The classes offered include: Accounting, Culinary Arts, Intro to Dental Assisting and many more.

Currently, the courses are integrated into the school day. There are five classes that are held outside of school hours, held at San Gabriel High School.

“Due to the lack of funding [for the district], ROP classes have been incorporated into the school day,” said Liu.

Another ROP program, called Office Occupations, was offered during the summer specifically for low-income students to be able to take classes and work with companies and businesses, while being paid at the same time.

“Office Occupations is a great class because it helps you prepare for the future. It helps you on things such as preparing for a job interview, job applications, cover letter, resume and follow up letter,” said sophomore Kevin La. “It’s a useful class and it will help [prepare] you [for] the [real work world].”

While ROP paid for instructors to teach that summer class, other private agencies, such as “Career Partners,” gave state and federal funding to these low-income students.

This enabled them to take 120 hours of class, earn credits and earn some extra money too, making it a worthwhile addition for a student’s summer.