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| Career Center Offers
"Exceptional’ Options of Courses
By Paige Dorsey (Jan. 15, 2002) "The Arlington Career Center provides a great way to explore career options, and a good preparatory if you know what you want to study," said Ms. April Faw, George Mason High School’s director of guidance. Ms.Faw is one of the many people who speak highly of the Arlington Career Center (ACC), a vocational school that offers GM students classes that are not available at George Mason High School The classes offered are so exceptional that George Mason pays $3,000 a semester for its students to attend the ACC, in order to maintain access to the unusual but attractive programs. Twenty-four George Mason students are currently enrolled at the ACC, taking a variety of classes that meet their specific interests. Classes offered cover a huge range of career options: electronic and computer technology; pre-engineering programs; technical animal science; biological/medical science; travel and tourism; hotel management; commercial art, carpentry; JROTC; aviation; auto body repair; automotive technology; early childhood development; gourmet food and preparation; Emergency Medical Training; sports fitness technology; physical therapy; heating/air/refrigeration; and electricity. One of the main advantages to enrolling in the ACC is that you get a head start if you know what your career will be. Many colleges in Virginia, such as NOVA, actually recognize ACC classes as college classes and grant college credits after the completion of a course. However, not all colleges recognize the ACC as a college-level school. This doesn’t matter to many students, like myself, who are not taking a class for college credits. Students like myself are becoming knowledgeable in the field that they plan to pursue a career in. The disadvantages to enrolling in the ACC are few but sometimes enough to prevent a student from enrolling. For starters, the school is located in Arlington, and therefore requires a daily fifteen-minute car ride through the busy streets of Ballston, in order to reach the destination. To accommodate this, George Mason provides bus transportation to and from the ACC on a regular basis. Another obstacle to overcome is the scheduling which requires two blocks, both first and second, or sixth and seventh. This means that students attend the ACC everyday, which is actually the favorite class of the day for most George Mason students. "It’s a great experience because it’s full of hands-on activities that aren’t boring. Everyday you look forward to something new and interesting. I think George Mason is doing a great job of paying and providing transportation for GM students to the ACC. Colleges also look for students that have some knowledge about the field they are going into. EMT with Basic Anatomy (the course I am currently enrolled in) is the class to take if you want the medical world to be fun and exciting," says George Mason senior, Hardeep Gill. Senior Michelle Gallimore had similar comments about her course, "The animal center is a great place for you to learn and respect animals. My teacher wants me to learn, not complete tedious assignments for grades."
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