Career Connected Learning is coming to the Danville Independent School District starting during the 2026-2027 school year. 

At Mary G. Hogsett Primary School, what the work will look like is exposing students to career clusters through visits from career professionals and embedding career studies into instruction. Edna L. Toliver Intermediate School will take the same approach. Then in 4th and 5th grade, the students will use career kits from Paxton Patterson Labs that the district has purchased for multiple grade levels. 

The labs provide hands-on learning opportunities that help students discover different career clusters. At Toliver, they include lessons like building miniature wind turbines and a forensics lesson to find the principal’s missing dog, as well as lessons focused on robotics, electricity, and flight principles.

Students will continue to use the kits at John W. Bate Middle School, with adapted kits for students with disabilities, made available through a KY Transition 360 SPARK: Supporting Postsecondary Achievement and Resources for Kentucky Students with Disabilities (SPARK) grant. At Bate, the kits include experiences like virtual-reality welding experiences, learning how to install plumbing, computer graphics and game development, and cosmetology, barbering and nursing lessons.

“I'm excited about [the hands-on lessons], because then that's going to lead to very meaningful conversations when it gets to scheduling in 8th grade, to what pathway do they want to take?” said Community Schools Director Dakota Yates.

Danville High School students will use the kits and adapted kits and have access to virtual reality opportunities made possible through an anonymous donor, as well as internships, mentoring and work-based learning opportunities. 

Chief Academic Officer Suzanne Farmer said this prioritization of increased career-focused instruction came out of the Community Schools work the district is doing. 

“It was something that we were hearing from the Community Schools work,” she said. “This really was born from [a] student panel at the high school where students were saying things like, ‘wouldn't it be great if we were contributing more to our community?’ And they actually used that phrase, which is one of the Portrait [of a Danville Learner] … competencies, and they were saying things like, ‘wouldn't it be great if they were more relevant work-based learning opportunities?’ And that's all the things that we have built in this that we want to see.”

Farmer emphasized that one of the ideas behind this work is “the idea being that all teachers are [Career and Technical Education] teachers.”

“So everyone should be making connections to career[s], and everyone should be aware of what their students' goals are and trying to help them to achieve those goals,” she said. 

 

The DISD will have several teachers who will lead this work. At Hogsett, Rosie Dean will be a content lead; she will lead planning and foster community partnerships that will teach students about careers. At Toliver, Susan Wheeler will be a Discovery Lab teacher. The Discovery Lab will be built into the explore classes rotation, currently known as specials rotation. This will expose students to career learning at all grade levels. Bate’s Jessica Whittemore will be leading a career lab for 7th and 8th graders to use the career kits and learn about pathways. At DHS, Rachyl Stonebraker will be the JAG (Jobs for America’s Graduates) teacher. There will be a Career Connected cadre with Stonebraker, Whittemore, Wheeler and Dean.They will share resources and community partnerships with teachers, and create the system for Career Connected Learning in classrooms. 

Another component of the Career Connected Learning work will be professional development for staff. 

The long-term impact the district hopes to see from the Career Connected Learning work includes improved postsecondary readiness, academic outcomes, employability after high school and college, and filling community hiring positions with qualified graduates. 

The DISD is currently seeking sponsors who will help support or donate toward the Career Connected Learning work. So far, Danville Rotary has donated $5,000, Chick-Fil-A has donated $1,995, and the district has received an anonymous donation for $1,000. Several other businesses have stated an intent to donate. The district has reached out to additional dedicated partners and will continue to update the community about sponsors for this work. If you have questions or know of a business or organization who would be interested in contributing, or if you represent one yourself, contact Dakota Yates at dakota.yates@danville.kyschools.us or 859-936-8422.