Brent Boerema is the Principal of the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District Career-Tech Center. The Center's goal is to prepare students for careers that won't be outsourced.
The TBA Career-Tech Center in Traverse City serves more than twenty high schools and over 1,100 students in the five-county Grand Traverse area--including students from both Benzie Central and Frankfort. The Center offers 23 programs in everything from welding to business careers and journalism. Students attend half-sessions, and the focus is on making students employable.
Brent distinguished Career Tech from old Vocational Ed, which provided training in woodworking or the like for non-college kids. The Career-Tech educational model recognizes that students need a diploma or GED if they are to avoid getting stuck in low-paying jobs with little job security.
Along with training TBA Career Tech offers technology and research at no cost to local school districts except with regard to transportation. Over seventy percent of Career Tech graduates pursue secondary education at some level. Brent noted that NMC is a great affordable school right in Career Tech's backyard.
Further information about the Career-Tech Center is available on its website.