LaBelle Middle School students proudly show off their Industry Certifications. (Courtesy photo)

In order to ensure curriculum and lessons being taught to Career and Technical Education students are relevant, students are tested with exams designed by industry representatives, not teachers! Hendry County Schools has multiple Career and Technical Education programs such as Agriscience, Allied Health, Criminal Justice and Computer Technologies, just to name a few. The Industry Certifications verify to potential employers that students have the knowledge and skills deemed essential to their respective business.

This school year the phenomenal students at LaBelle Middle School earned 230 Industry Certifications in the area of computer applications. The certification areas were IC3 Spark, Information Technology (IT), and Adobe. The Adobe certification and curriculum are on high school level and present a more challenging curriculum. The students at LaBelle Middle School, taught by Mr. Kevin Lutkenhaus, has earned more industry certifications than any other program in Hendry County Schools! Mr. Lutkenhaus does a great job at getting his students engaged and challenging them to learn and explore at the same time! Mr. Lutkenhaus, Principal of LMS, Dr. Borghese, and multiple other staff members conducted an awards ceremony at the Dallas Townsend Center on May 18th for the students and awarded each student their certificates.

Last school year Hendry County students earned a combined total of 314 Industry Certifications. Based on great success such as LaBelle Middle School, we expect to far surpass that number this year. Meeting the demand of our regional workforce needs and training a ready workforce is a top priority for Hendry County Schools! The commitment to Career and Technical Education Programs and providing relevant educational experiences for our students that lead to high skill, high wage careers is growing at a rapid rate in our Middle and High Schools in Hendry County. If you would like more information or wish to provide any support for our programs, contact our workforce development office at 863-983-1511.

Article Submitted by: Michael Swindle,

Director or Workforce Development

for Hendry County Schools