Animal related occupations have been growing quickly over the last decade and as indicated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics web sites this trend is likely to continue.  Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers make the list of the 20 highest growth rates (40%) for all occupations from 2000-2010 (see attached).  Several occupations on this list are related to health and medical careers.  While our curricula are not directly focused on these jobs, we feel our curricula indirectly supports these occupations as well.   As indicated in artifact 5, the job outlook for animal-related occupations is very positive.  The Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-11 Edition, all animal related careers are growing in the next eight years at average or above average rates.  As long as the need for qualified employees continues to be strong, we believe that the program is a valuable asset and that the outlook for the program is good. 

The letters are written in support of Mr. Lockhart's bid to be named Arlington County's Teacher of the Year for 2009.  One letter is written by  a professional partner, the National Park Service and two letters are from parents.  

The web link is a good example of a testimonial by one of our professional partners, the National Zoo, who supports us by offering internships to students from our program.  A student intern is also seen and illustrates how students view the benefits of the program. 

Arlington does not support Co-op for CTE courses except for Business courses.  Instead, CTE courses are encouraged to promote and develop internship opportunities which are based upon the state standard of 140 instructional hours per credit (as opposed to those indicated in the Co-op chart).  The data included in the tables provided are pertinent to our internships for the last two years (all the data we could collect).   A brief  summary of the data in the chart:

One students was paid $7.50/hour and the other student had an unpaid internship

Both students completed the required number of hours to earn 2 credits

Our current intern is earning $8.00/hour and has worked over 300 hours so far.

The document is the official agreement for the 2 credit internship School to Work Transition/Internship (29828) at the Career Center.

This document shows the formal employer evaluations for the School to Work Transition/Internship (29828) for three of our program's student interns.