Prosser, WA (PRWEB) October 30, 2012
Red Comet offers a complete online high schoolprogram that is both rigorous and engaging. Red Comet is approved as a “Multi-District Online Course Provider” as well as an “Online School Program Provider” by Washington State’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)’s Digital Learning Department (DLD). Red Comet’s online program is ranked at the very top in terms of student satisfaction in a state-wide survey conducted by OSPI.
Red Comet offers several courses in all the core subjects – including Science and Mathematics. In addition, it also offers Elective courses in these two subjects. Red Comet will focus future efforts on developing courses that are targeted to meet STEM requirements. The umbrella term "STEM" is an acronym used to describe Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. And whether in the context of high school and college courses or professional fields, this is an area in which many feel there is a measurable "lack".
Beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, Red Comet will be introducing several STEM courses that will expose students to the various emerging technologies. Students from all over the country can avail themselves of these STEM courses. Red Comet sees the STEM courses as a tool that can eventually offer the same learning opportunities to all students irrespective of their geographic location or their socio-economic background. Red Comet students will be able to learn about several new technologies that will eventually help them make up their mind about their future careers.
In a recent airing of the nationally broadcast "The Diane Rehm Show" on National Public Radio, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined the program and made many interesting comments on the state of education and employment in the U.S.
One of the most profound things he said was in regards to STEM. Mr. Duncan's response to the question "where are the jobs?" was very straightforward:
"In this tough economic time with unemployment higher than we'd like, we have about 2 million high-wage, high-skilled jobs that are unfilled right now in this country. I think we in education have to look at ourselves in the mirror and say, are we producing employees with the skills that employers are looking for? And I've met with many CEOs who said, we're trying to hire right now in this country, but we don't have the folks who have the skill."
He went on to indicate, quite clearly that there was a very distinct need to "focus on the STEM fields... green energy jobs, IT jobs, health care jobs, advanced manufacturing jobs. There are good-paying jobs out there. We need to do a better job of encouraging young people to get the skills they need in today's economy."
Two million jobs in areas as fascinating as green energy and IT, and yet schools (high schools, in particular) are failing to offer the kinds of training needed to steer students towards lucrative careers. The dialogue during the radio program made it pretty clear that the answer was to make an investment in high schools as well as in colleges.
This is especially true when the national dropout rate is at 25% - this translates to around one million young Americans leaving school without even a high school diploma under their collective belts. If educators could show kids that graduating from high school, and perhaps pursuing a community college degree, would provide them access to some of the highest wages available, then it would turn the tide.
Students throughout the country use Red Comet’s online program that include all the core subjects as well as numerous high school electives. A variety of students use Red Comet’s online learning program – students in need of credit recovery; students attending public high schools who need additional credits to graduate; students attending private schools who are looking for electives; home school high school students; student athletes who were not able to attend their high school classes; students with part-time jobs; students who dropped out of school; etc.
