Running Start expanding in Cheney

CHENEY – The Cheney High School’s Running Start program just received a massive expansion.

Now, students who are seeking careers in trades can take advantage of the program, officials said last week.

Cheney Career and Technical Education Director Adam Smith, 47, presented the Running Start for Careers program at the School board meeting last week.

He explained how it will widely increase the types of students that seek access to Running Start.

Previously, Cheney’s Running Start program had nothing for students seeking careers like being a chef or welder, Adams said. Running Start for Careers opens the program to an entirely new wave of students whose interests lie beyond and liberal arts degrees at four-year universities.

Running Start allows students to replace high school courses with college classes and lets them earn both high school and college credits at the same time.

For example, if a student wanted to attend a four-year university for a journalism or history degree, they could enroll for Running Start. If they’re accepted, they can start taking college courses that grant high school credits on top of college credits with each passing grade.

Before this action item was approved by the School Board, students who wanted to be a welder, chef or accountant assistant, couldn’t find any resources for them at the high school.

There was no funding from the district for students seeking an Associated Applied Science Degrees and a high school diploma simultaneously.

Running Start for Careers fixes this problem greatly expanding this program’s reach while simultaneously offering a direct pipeline of young workers for local employers.

A student seeking an agricultural business degree can now enroll through Running Start for Careers. Their core mass credits would be replaced by basic business math and electronic calculations and business mathematics. This student’s core science credits could be earned by taking environmental soil science and basic crop science.

This type of versatility within the Running Start program is going to prepare waves of kids for the work force directly out of high school, which could be vital in the wake of our country’s current labor shortage.

Running Start for Careers was enacted at the Spokane Community College and the Mead School District and has shown a lot of positive results already, according to the Journal of Business. Running Start’s expansion helps solve equity issues where many low-income students who weren’t on the path of a four-year university now have many more options to expand their career options outside of high school, SCC President Kevin Brockbank said.

While there are some concerns about the Running Start for Careers Program around the funding implementation and how this program may stall potential tradesman outside of the program – the overall sentiment for this program expansion is that it’s going to benefit many students and their families greatly.

“It moved us closer to all means all,” Smith said.

Jonathan Olsen-Koziol can be reached at [email protected].