By Jasmine Weis
Beginning this 2016-2017 school year, Benicia High School introduced a new class, iQuest, under the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department.
The iQuest curriculum provides enrolled high school seniors with an opportunity to explore careers in the community. Students select their career passion and seek out sponsors to provide an internship during the school year, where they will spend a minimum of three hours a week in the field. For the two hours spent in the classroom each week, workshops and guest speakers will be provided to further facilitate seniors’ transition into the career world. College and Career Counselor Lisa Douglass will be also be assisting students with their internship opportunities, as well as narrowing down the colleges best suited for their area of passion.Teaching the iQuest class is CTE epartment chair Annette Fewins.
As Fewins stated, the iQuest program is a great opportunity for students to explore their career passions. She first heard about the class last year through Benicia High’s then-interim principal, Mark Corti, who worked at California High School in San Ramon, where the course originated three years ago. After visiting Cal High to watch the iQuest students’ end of year presentations, Fewins realized this program would be perfect for Benicia High seniors.