WILMINGTON — A new pathway is coming for students at St. Elizabeth High School. More accurately, four new pathways are coming in the 2024-25 school year, and officials at St. Elizabeth are excited for their potential.
“Viking Pathways” is an “innovative curriculum designed to seamlessly merge St. Elizabeth High School’s renowned college-prep program with real-world, work-based experiences in the fields of health, education, business or technology,” according to the school. It is a supplemental program that will allow students to get a head start in a particular field of interest, said principal Patrick Jordan.
“It targets particular spots for electives where students can … focus in on one of four different pathways,” he said. “They will be able to take a number of these elective courses and they can graduate either with college credits through our dual-enrollment partners, or in the case of all four of them there’s an option where they can take a test for professional certification by the time they graduate.”
School president Joe Papili said this program has been in the works for a few years as St. Elizabeth has sought to provide more detailed career preparation. It will allow students who choose to participate to see the workforce from a different perspective, and they may be able to start earning money as well.
“Some of these businesses that hire them will pay for their education, too,” Papili said.
Part of St. Elizabeth’s Middle States re-accreditation last year, he said, included discussions about curriculum development “and enhancing opportunities for students beyond college. Those who may not go into college may go into the workforce.”
“It fits into our strategic plan,” he continued, and is part of the progression at St. Elizabeth.
The school will still offer a traditional college-prep curriculum, Jordan said. For students who have an idea of what they want to do for a career, Viking Pathways could offer them a way “to get a leg up before they even get to the next level.”
The four pathways were selected based on where current students’ interests lie. Jordan said the school has met with some potential outside partners. For the educational pathway, high school students could possibly work with St. Elizabeth Elementary School, other nearby Catholic schools or one of the local public schools.
Papili said the school will assess the need for any additional faculty after the program gets started. They are confident they have the right people in place to make it successful. In addition to faculty, school officials will be looking at people in the community and alumni who might want to help out.
“We’ve already identified a few who are eligible and able and willing to step in,” he said.
Jordan and Ashley Kelly, the academic dean and a mathematics teacher, said the students were instrumental in the development of Viking Pathways. Jordan said the input was “overwhelmingly positive,” with several seniors wishing it had been available when they were younger. Kelly said they surveyed students about their career ambitions in order to determine which subjects would be part of the program initially. The medical field was the most popular, followed by business.
The program will be flexible, she continued, so as needs and trends change, St. Elizabeth can adapt.
“As our student body grows and evolves, this pathway program can grow and evolve. If our students’ interests shift, that’s where we pivot and we add another pathway at some time,” Kelly said.
The program will be open to all students, although it is optional, Kelly said. Freshmen who sign up will take an exploratory course, then pick a pathway for their sophomore year. They will be able to change pathways if they find their original pick is not for them.
Caitlyn Finkley, the school’s director of communications, said it is not unusual for college students to change majors, and switching pathways will be similar to that.
“You may think you want to work in minor league baseball, then once you’re in there, you don’t want to,” she said.
Jordan said school officials are not aware of a program like this at area Catholic high schools “in terms of providing the college prep and the career readiness.”
A majority of a student’s credits required for graduation will still come from their college-prep work, Kelly said. The career piece is a supplement to enrich their education.
Students in the medical pathway can prepare for the clinical medical assistant certification or earn college credit while still in high school. Their career electives will include anatomy and physiology; medical law and ethics; and medical assisting or a co-op. The path is similar for the other three fields. The dual-enrollment program is with the University of Delaware, Immaculata University and Wilmington University.
The co-op choice is another addition coming to St. Elizabeth. It will allow students to work part of some days in a work setting in addition to the classroom. That will begin in the 2025-26 academic year, Kelly said.
“It allows them during their senior year … to go out after lunch into a real job and get that actual experience with work, have a mentor that they can lean on as they’re going through this profession, have a resume to begin,” she said.
