Middle Grades Career and Technical Education at Starmount Middle

Melinda Vestal has taught at Starmount Middle School since 2007.  Mrs. Vestal currently teaches the Exploring Characteristics & Careers course at Starmount Middle.

As part of her course instruction, Mrs. Vestal encourages her students to pursue a career that they will love working in every day.

Isaac Rose began teaching at Starmount Middle School last year.  Mr. Rose teaches the Exploring Careers & Employment course that utilizes Paxton-Patterson hands-on learning labs.

The Paxton-Patterson labs at SMS offer hands-on learning in areas such as Flight & Drone Technology, Home Maintenance, Hospitality & Tourism, Nursing and Criminalistics. 

Melanie Matthews has held various teaching positions in Yadkin County for almost 19 years.  Mrs. Matthews currently teaches Keyboarding & Basic Word Processing and Exploring Business & Entrepreneurship courses at Starmount Middle.  She previously taught Business and Marketing classes at Starmount High.

Her Business and Entrepreneurship students create their own business that make up “Starmount Valley” during this course.

Middle Grades Career and Technical Education at Forbush Middle School

Bryan Buckingham has taught at Forbush Middle School since 2022.  Mr. Buckingham teaches Coding in Minecraft, Exploring Personal Characteristics and Careers, Exploring Careers and Employment and Exploring Business and Entrepreneurship. Several of Mr. Buckingham’s courses utilize the Paxton-Patterson hands-on learning labs.

The Paxton-Patterson labs at FMS offer hands-on learning in areas such as Electricity & Electronics, Energy & Power, Home Maintenance, Nursing and Veterinary Medicine.

Kelly Hicks has taught in Yadkin County for almost 25 years.  He currently teaches Keyboarding & Basic Word Processing, Introduction to Office Productivity and Office Productivity Applications courses at Forbush Middle.

Russ Caudill has held various teaching positions in Yadkin County Schools for almost 20 years.  He currently teaches Exploring Personal Characteristics and Careers and Computer Science Discoveries at Forbush Middle School.

Exploring Business and Entrepreneurship Students Create Businesses

Mrs. Matthews’ Business and Entrepreneurship students created their own “Starmount Valley” this semester.  Each student created a unique business to be part of the valley.

Their work in progress and some of their awesome finished projects are pictured below.

Trade and Industrial Education at Starmount High

Sandy Martin teaches Automotive Service Fundamentals and Automotive Service I, II & III courses at Starmount.    Mr. Martin has taught at Starmount for almost 24 years.  He also serves as the SkillsUSA Advisor for the SHS chapter.

Jeffrey Tutterow teaches Construction Core and Carpentry courses at Starmount High.  Mr. Tutterow has taught at Starmount since 2021.  He also teaches Digital Design & Animation and Game Art Design in the CSIT program area.  

Students participating in the construction courses can earn industry recognized credentials through NCCER during the course.

Mr. Rodney Wagoner teaches Drone Technology I & II at Starmount High.  This is the first year of the Drone program for SHS. Mr. Wagoner also teaches Adobe Visual I & II in the CSIT program area.

Students in the Drone Technology I course are eligible to earn their CFR 14 Part 107 UAS Remote Pilot Certification.

 

Trade and Industrial Education at Forbush High

Keith Senter teaches Automotive Service Fundamentals and Automotive Service I, II & III courses at Forbush High.  Mr. Senter has taught at FHS for over 10 years.  He also serves as the SkillsUSA Advisor for FHS

Gray Harris teaches Construction Core and Carpentry courses at Forbush High.  Mr. Harris has taught at Forbush for over 20 years.  He also taught a Carpentry II course at SHS last semester.

Jason Cockerham teaches Construction Core and Electrical Trades I & II at Forbush High.  He has taught for YCS since 2021.

Students in the Construction and Electrical Trades courses can earn industry recognized NCCER credentials.

Daniel Hutchens teaches Electronics I, II and III at Forbush.  He has taught at Forbush for over 26 years.

Students in the Electronics I and II courses are eligible to earn industry recognized ETA credentials.

 

Jay Brendle teaches Drafting I, Drafting II & III – Architectural and Drafting II & III – Engineering at Forbush.  He has taught at FHS since 2015.

Students in the Drafting courses are eligible to earn credentials, such as AutoDesk Certified User- AutoCAD, during their enrollment in the courses.