Region 10 Technical High School has seen a spike in applications from students who want to attend the Brunswick school next year.
As of Oct. 1, there were 263 students at Region 10. On Monday, the school reached its cap of 404 applications, according to Superintendent Paul Perzanoski. The school has started a waitlist and is still taking applications, he said.
“It’s actually a lot more than in past years, and I think a lot of that has to do with our approach this year,” Perzanoski said.
Region 10 updated its website and online recruitment this year and has spent more time working individually with prospective students. The school also launched the first Foundations of Technology class, which allows students in grades nine and 10 to try out each Region 10 program, Perzanoski said.
Perzanoski said as many as 20-25% of students who apply to Region 10 don’t actually attend. As a result, he said he expects the school to be able to accommodate the increase in students.
Region 10 serves Brunswick, Freeport and Mt. Ararat high schools, as well as students from Harpswell Coastal Academy, Lisbon and some homeschool students. Traditionally, most Region 10 students attend a traditional high school for part of the day, but travel to attend classes at Region 10 for a portion of the day. Programming includes many hands-on courses, including nursing, firefighting, culinary arts, automotive technology and building trades.
Brunswick High School sophomore Michaela Anderson, 16, said she knew she wanted to be in the EMT program at Region 10 since she visited the school in eighth grade. If she passes all her tests, Anderson said she can get her beginner EMT license at age 18, which means she can get her paramedic license by the time she is 20, “and be on my way to a full career.”
Lucia Lavan-Kushiner, a sophomore at Mt. Ararat High School, applied to the certified nursing assistants program at Region 10. At age 16, she is interested in pathology and the medical field. She got an email recently about Region 10 offerings and visited the website to learn more about the CNA course and the jobs she a certification may lead to.
“I was like, wait a second, this could actually be helpful because then I don’t have to go to college and pay for it and can do that at a much younger age,” Lavan-Kushiner said. “It’s helpful to be able to support myself earlier on and have a greater grasp on it younger in life.”
That will give her more time to explore jobs in the medical field during her career, Lavan-Kushiner said, adding, “there are so many jobs waiting to be found by me and I am insanely excited to work with patients.”
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