The Southern County director of workforce development told the school board on Oct. 2 that the district has expanded career and technical education (CTE) offerings, created school-level workforce teams, and launched new internship and ambassador programs to increase students’ postsecondary and workforce readiness.

Beth Curran, director of workforce development, said the district’s 2025-26 motto is "every student, every pathway and every opportunity," and outlined school-level workforce teams that include career coaches, work-based learning coordinators, counselors and administrators who meet several times each nine weeks to coordinate activities and messaging.

Curran provided enrollment figures for the CTE program: 1,034 students districtwide, with 625 at the West Campus, 281 at the East Campus, and 128 at satellite campuses at Olive Branch and Hernando. She said 318 juniors are enrolled in an online college-and-career-readiness (CCR) course through CTE, allowing juniors to earn CCR credit while in their CTE program.

Program expansions and internships: Curran said the district expanded law and public safety programming at Hernando High School so more high schools can access that pathway; she also said one career coach was hired as the new law and public safety teacher at Hernando. Open enrollment for business, marketing and finance classes at Olive Branch and Hernando now gives all eight high schools access to those CTE courses. The district also has five education-preparation interns placed daily at elementary schools (Pleasant Hill, Greenbrook, Overpark and Lewisburg) and said those interns will present at a conference at the University of Mississippi.

Events and outreach: Curran listed events the workforce office runs or supports, including a senior college-and-career fair at the Landers Center, a graduate hiring event scheduled for May 14, a junior kickoff to college event, a tenth-grade "Bridging the Gap" career expo at the Landers Center in partnership with the DeSoto County Economic Council, middle-school tours of the West and East CTE campuses, aviation exploration at Olive Branch Airport, and community reading and employer visits in elementary schools.

Discussion vs. action: The board received the informational report; no board votes were taken on program expansions at the meeting. Board members praised the expansion and noted the district’s need to prepare students for college, military service, or direct entry into the workforce.

Closing note: Curran invited board members and community partners to attend upcoming events and endorsed continued growth of school-level workforce teams and CTE access across the district.