Back to School: A new year, a new era for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

CHARLOTTE ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — From athletes getting paid to the emergence of artificial intelligence, life is different in the modern classroom.

Students with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools returned to class on Monday with several new schools including Bruns Ave Elementary, Knights View Elementary, and Ballantyne Ridge opening this year to curb overcrowding.

There are several changes and focus points as the school year is now underway. Here are a few of them.

AI IN THE CLASSROOM

Vera Cubero, an emerging technologies consultant with the Department of Public Instruction for North Carolina, says some businesses won’t even consider hiring a potential candidate without AI Experience. 66% of the leaders they surveyed said they won’t hire somebody who does not have AI skills.

“The kids that graduated last year, if they try to go into the workforce, into one of these business models, they’re going to potentially be at a deficit for that if they’re competing against students who had those AI skills.”

But how do you balance using AI in the classroom without crossing the line and cheating?

“We have to get away from that dichotomy that if you use AI, you’re cheating. If you’re not, you’re not cheating because they need to learn how to work with it the same way that I work with it to enhance their own creativity, not to replace it.”

The acceptance and use of a. I. Tools is inevitable, but not all educators are on board with the bots.

TRADE SCHOOLS

Bob Kessler is the campus president of the NASCAR Tech Institute in Mooresville and hears it from students all the time.

“Our students are going out into a career, something they love doing, fixing things, working with their hands, getting their hands dirty.”

One of those students is Amira Flynn, who’s studying robotics

“I do better doing things hands-on.”

Flynn is a non-traditional student who did one year of a 4-year university, then served in the military, but decided to jump into a trade more than 10 years after getting her high school diploma.

“I probably would have gone into a trade school had I known more about it because I feel like they don’t give that information out a lot in high schools.”

Programs at this branch of the Universal Technical Institute average about a year and focus on six different in-demand trades, from robotics to welding to automotive

Kessler said many of his students are receiving job offers, and accepting job offers on the day of graduation.

That’s just one reason Kessler says students are being drawn to the trades, the other is security.

“When you go through the welder program, you know you’re gonna be a welder. When you go through the auto program, you know what you’re going to be doing, so first and foremost there’s no uncertainty.”

And with tuition costing between $20-35,000-in compared to a 4-year university, he only expects interest to grow.

“I think the word is just starting, I think the shift is just starting, the momentum is starting to grow and in the coming years I think it’s going to get better and better and better.”

NIL AND ATHLETES

Myers Park head football coach Chris James has been hearing about NIL for years now, from his athletes looking to move to the next level.

“Kids come back from visits and instead of talking about campus or the mascot, sometimes even playing time, the conversation of NIL comes up first a lot.”

For a very brief moment this year, his own players had the green light to also cash in, until this past June when the North Carolina High School Athletic Association reversed its decision to allow public school athletes to take advantage of NIL.

“At the private school level, they are allowed to have NIL, which creates a different monster.”

Now that the rule is in effect coach James says it’s just another element to juggle.

“It’s definitely a disadvantage to a certain extent. I’ve been at private school, I’ve been at public school, just the difference alone forgot NIL, there is a significant difference.”

While he’s not worried about his own players transferring to private schools specifically because of NIL opportunities, he can’t rule them out completely.

“You hope you can keep your players around for a long time, but if you’ve got high-level guys and guys that have the potential and it’s the market for that, they might leave and you just have to know that as a coach.”

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