Hundreds of Pima County students and their families descended on Pima JTED’s south side campus Saturday, for its annual showcase highlighting its various programs and offerings.

More than 30 different programs were on display in the parking lot and inside its Innovative Learning Center. Pima’s Joint Technical Education District is a public career and technical education district established in 2007 that’s expanded to 15 sites across the county. It serves students under age 22 who are pursuing a GED or are enrolled in public, private, charter and home schools.

The crowd included children and adults of all ages who enjoyed hands-on activities and demonstrations, including CPR, go-karts, fire gear, heavy equipment and more.

The culinary arts tent boasted a steady crowd, with students offering a wide variety of different foods from around the world, ranging from hot dogs to different flavors of cannolis. 

Rachael Oliver, a pharmacy technician student who has been in the program for almost six months, told Tucson Spotlight her favorite part of the program are her classmates,

“We’re like one big family,” she said.

Her class is learning about pill counting and compounding prescriptions, as well as memorizing the brand names of some common medications.

A senior at Flowing Wells High School who is six months into JTED’s pharmacy technician program, Honey Duarte said she enjoys the structure and pacing of the program, and how it allows her to gain an understanding of the field.

“It’s amazing that it's free,” she said of the program. “And it's all my commitment at my own pace. It’s up to me.” 

Students from the law, public safety and security program hosted mock arrests for willing participants, placing them in handcuffs and guiding them into the back of their police cruisers.

Some parents used this as an opportunity to teach their kids about staying safe during police encounters and respectfully dealing with law enforcement. 

JTED’s fire service station had gear laid out for people to check out and try on. Jackie Bisnar, who worked as a firefighter in Vail for 25 years, is in her first year as a fire skills instructor with JTED, signing on to help after her daughter enrolled in the program.

“We’ll come out and lecture during the week, but we also have “Skill Saturdays” where we help the students with things such as putting on their gear, hooking up the fire hose, hoisting tools and more,” Bisnar said.

Students at the cosmetology booth taught attendees how to correctly apply curlers. Sophomore Samantha Rodriguez said her favorite part of the program is being on her feet more and doing hair cuts.

She’s hoping to start work at a salon after graduation before one day owning a salon of her own.

Aysha Khalil, a junior at Innovation Tech School and second year in JTED, manned the robotics table, where the go-kart type vehicle built by Khalil and her classmates was on display.

“I first heard about JTED when I was in 6th grade and my sister was in high school and she brought the pamphlet home,” she said. “I was drawn to (it) immediately and knew I wanted to do that someday.”

Khalil said her desire to become an engineer is inspired by her father and aunt.

JTED has an 80% placement rate in the workforce, college, or military and has assisted over 5,000 students in obtaining industry certifications and licenses. Pre-Enrollment is now open for future students. 

Abbie Andrus is a University of Arizona alum and Tucson Spotlight reporter. Contact her at asandrus@arizona.edu.

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