Districts turn schools into paid, real-world workplaces

paid, real-world – From a wastewater algae emergency in Colorado to paid drone internships in Washington and a three-year cybersecurity certification in New York, more districts are building career pathways that pull students into authentic professional work—sometimes with pay,

When a water-treatment plant outside Denver found an algae problem in its pipes, the facility didn’t reach for an engineering contractor. It called students.

At the Innovation Center at St. Vrain Valley Schools in Longmont. Colorado. the aquatic robotics team sent underwater robots into the plant. collected data. identified the algae species. and helped eradicate the issue. The plant now contracts with the student team for quarterly checkups. And the request for help hasn’t stayed local—neighboring towns have begun calling as well.

This isn’t a staged exercise meant to look like work. For St. Vrain Valley Schools, it’s part of a wider shift toward career learning pathways that connect students directly with professional challenges, industry mentors, and, in some cases, a paycheck.

The district’s model tries to make sure the pathway leads somewhere real. A 2023 review from the American Institutes for Research. drawing on two decades of studies. found that career and technical education participation has statistically significant positive impacts on academic achievement. high school completion. employability skills. and college readiness. The question districts are now wrestling with isn’t whether to offer career pathways—it’s whether those pathways connect to outcomes that matter.

At St. Vrain, that effort is driven through a program known as project teams. After school each day. roughly 264 students log in at the district’s Innovation Center and begin work as paid district employees. billing hours against accounts for actual clients. Students can join a drone show team. a cybersecurity unit. an AI development group. or other teams. rotating as their interests evolve.

Assistant Superintendent of Innovation Joe McBreen describes the approach as “low threat, high reward.” Students get paid, grow their network, develop soft skills, and test drive careers. If they join a team and decide it’s not for them, he says there’s still real value in the experience.

The work is built with industry mentors who bring in challenges that resemble what professionals face, not invented classroom tasks. Damon Brown, a senior cybersecurity adviser for the U.S. Department of State focused on Ecuador, mentored seven St. Vrain students on a complex assignment. He asked them to design the architecture for a cyber intelligence fusion center using open-source tools—work that could have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if contracted out. The students built the system architecture, wrote user manuals, recommended equipment, and conducted a threat analysis of countries surrounding Ecuador. Brown said the students “knocked it out of the park.”.

He was so impressed that he is now hiring six St. Vrain interns. “This experience binds people together,” Brown said.

Even the program’s outreach can shift direction based on what students see around them. After one student’s grandparent was victimized by a cybercrime, the cybersecurity team created an awareness curriculum for senior citizens. They taught five classes to 24 senior citizens in the first year, and the second session was standing room only. Senior facilities now pay the students to come in and teach.

Other teams have their own real-world rhythm. The drone team flies commercial shows for companies across the country on Friday afternoons and bills clients at rates few drone pilots in the country can match. One former member is now studying aerospace engineering and using money from drone flying to help pay for college.

St. Vrain’s approach has drawn visits from educators looking for ways to make career pathways concrete. Kris Hagel. chief information officer of Peninsula School District in Washington state. toured the Innovation Center and returned convinced he could build something similar. Two years ago, Peninsula launched a paid drone internship program, starting with seven students and gradually expanding.

Students work alongside industry partners while learning how to navigate FAA regulations, program autonomous flight paths, and repair drones. Hagel said: “When you’re willing to look at what’s cutting edge and think innovatively without being constrained by traditional systems. you can create opportunities for kids that transcend what we think of as traditional education.” He added that the program has become “so much more than I thought was possible.”.

Peninsula partnered with Firefly Drone Systems. one of the few American drone manufacturers. to train students and help them operate drone shows. Roles stretch beyond piloting to include marketing, animation design, and equipment maintenance. Hagel envisions a future where students studying business management hire other students to operate the program.

A skilled drone operator who leaves high school with the capital to purchase equipment can enter a six-figure career almost immediately, Hagel said.

Not every district is building around robotics contracts or drone shows. In Indiana. Michele Davis. CTE department chair at Metropolitan School District of Steuben County. is taking entrepreneurship as the real-world pathway. Working with the StartED Up Foundation. Davis guides students through a three-year sequence: identifying an actual problem. developing a solution. building out the business model. and presenting it to real audiences.

Students take “opportunity walks” around the school, documenting everyday frustrations and brainstorming solutions. They learn to market their ideas professionally by practicing elevator pitches, presenting case studies to various audiences, and explaining their ideas to elementary school students.

Davis said, “Opportunities are everywhere.” She described outcomes that can be surprisingly practical. One student designed a reversible outfit to solve a quick-change problem in theater productions. Another class developed a mobile trailer concept that could help unhoused people access hygiene services.

Beyond the business concepts, Davis said the program focuses heavily on communication skills and confidence. “We get students comfortable doing things that are normally uncomfortable,” she said.

In New York, Suffern Central School District in Rockland County has embedded career credentials directly into high school itself. Superintendent P. Erik Gundersen described a partnership with the League of Innovative Schools and curriculum provider Paradigm that launched a three-year cybersecurity certification pathway embedded directly into the high school. About 60 students are currently enrolled.

The program was designed to reach students who might not otherwise see themselves in a cybersecurity career. The district actively recruited students from immigrant communities and others who are new to the U.S.

Students work in a “sandbox” environment that simulates real cyber incidents, allowing them to practice identifying threats and responding to attacks.

Gundersen pointed to changing economic realities. “The means to send a kid to college is not as great as it was. and a lot of what we’re reading questions the importance of a college education. ” he said. Those realities, he added, are pushing districts to rethink how they prepare students for the workforce.

Career credentials embedded with traditional high schools, Gundersen said, can open doors for students who may not otherwise have clear pathways into high-skill industries.

Across these programs. the details vary—robots in a real facility. paid drone internships with FAA rules. entrepreneurship plans tested through presentations. cybersecurity credentials earned inside a simulated incident environment. But the philosophy stays consistent: authentic experience isn’t an accessory to education. As McBreen puts it, districts should “expand their vision.” “Anyone can do this. Start small.”.

career and technical education school district programs project teams paid internships robotics cybersecurity certification drone internships FAA regulations industry mentors entrepreneurship education St. Vrain Valley Schools Peninsula School District Suffern Central School District