Our Welding Team is proud to announce that 100% of our first-year students earned their OSHA 10-Hour Safety Certifications (and in record time)! Meanwhile, our returning students are brushing up on their welding techniques to get ready for their skills check and certification later this fall. This week, we also took time for Construction Inclusion Week with a visit to a Bartlett Cocke construction site coordinated by our district's Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Department.

First-year students are busy practicing knife skills, learning about food safety & sanitation, and earning their Food Handler Certifications. Second-year internships are off to a great start with Our Shared Kitchen and Kimchi Rok, and our students are already workshopping their recipes for the Travis County Youth Show in January. Students across all years have also come together to put on three Friday luncheons for our community. Follow @cliftonculinaryarts on Instagram to see more updates!

Second and third-year students have a jam-packed schedule. In the classroom, they are creating lesson plans for their Child Development Associates (CDA) portfolios. Once each week, students also participate in internships supporting infants, toddlers, and young children at Child Inc. locations or Pecan Springs Elementary School. In the middle of all this, second-year students somehow found the time to earn their Texas Food Handler Certifications so they can serve food to the littles.

The first nine weeks in Health Science have been all about exposure to different careers and opportunities in healthcare. Students across different classes learned from a registered nurse (who also happens to be a Clifton parent), participated in ACC's Nursing Academy, engaged in hands-on activities at St. David's Institute for Learning, and toured the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI). All classes have also implemented Friday Professionalism Day, dressing for success in scrubs.

We are excited for several new community connections this year in Hospitality, including the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association, Austin Creative Reuse, Front Steps, and Trail of Lights. Students are also settling into different "Front of House" roles during our Friday luncheons and learning how to account for money earned. Our student servers hope to see more families and community members dining in our Clifton Cafe in the weeks to come!

First-year students are working on their OSHA 10-Hour Safety Certifications while also practicing propagation in our greenhouse and garden beds. Students in Agriculture Practicum are clearing out the garden beds for fall planting, working on greenhouse repairs, and also making progress on their BASF Plant Science Certification. In our Green Pathways partnership with Austin Civilian Conservation Corps, students are learning about digital media and personal stories from recent high school graduates working for the City of Austin.

Students in our Career Prep classes are working hard in their internships at Child Craft Schools, Dobbin-Kauv Farm, and DoubleTree Hotel. Students from our Culinary and Hospitality clusters have also certified/re-certified in Texas Food Handlers so they can provide desserts for our Friday Luncheons. Across all sections, students are learning how to search and apply for good-fit jobs.

This month, A-Day students started volunteering at Austin Creative Reuse while B-Day students began their internship at Goodwill. Students across the program are working to develop their resumes, and several students got the chance to practice their networking skills at the Texas Workforce HireAbility Job Fair earlier this week!

Each month, we recognize a student from each program for their positive attitudes, work ethic, and contributions to their classes and teams. Congratulations to our first round of Clifton Students of the Month for the 2023-2024 school year!