Students explore new career options at Long Beach Career and Technical Education Facility

Freshman and sophomores at Long Beach High spent part of their day learning about technical career paths they can explore after high school.

Today’s CTE showcase sent students on a tour of the new Long Beach CTE Facility and demonstrations of programs offered for the 2025-26 school year.

Those programs include automotive, construction, engineering, and welding career tracks.

The school district’s CTE Assistant Director Rachel Lacy talked to us about how important it is for students to see how these programs operate before making a decision. “So, our CTE showcase is an event for ninth and tenth graders. They will start to meet with counselors to make requests for the classes they want to take next school years. So, we wanted to combine February. CTE Awareness Month with an event to showcase our programs to our students as a recruitment tool. When they go into scheduling next week, they will choose a CTE program. So, the building was under construction last school year when students were able to make their requests. So, they were just words on a page but this year we wanted them to see it because I feel like if students don’t see something then it’s not real to them. So, we wanted to get them over here see what their classes would be like, have them talk to students who are currently in those classes to make sure it’s going to be the right fit for them.”

Other career programs available for Long Beach students include business and financed courses.