The tenth grade, in particular, has been a challenge. We wanted students to gain exposure to the various career paths so that they could make informed choices about their junior- and senior-year activities. We also wanted them to gain transferable academic and work skills that they could build on regardless of what they studied later.
It seemed appropriate, given these goals, to use an AAI focus as the overall theme for the tenth grade. It could serve as the underpinnings for integrating the tenth-grade vocational and academic courses. In studying all aspects of various industries, students would gain a basic understanding of the industries encompassed in the upper-grade career paths. Knowledge and skills in planning, finance, management, principles of technology, labor, community, health, safety, and environment--all but technical skills--would in large part be transferable across industries, and even into other fields of study.
We did not, and do not, see AAI as being taught solely in the tenth grade. The overall school plan is based on scaffolding--constantly building on previously taught skills. In ninth grade, students learn planning and other skills in a cross-industry context by studying the community. In a sense, they are learning generic planning skills, management tactics, and so on. Planning and community issues, in particular, are at the core of the CityWorks curriculum. In their junior and senior years, students learn all aspects of particular industries, going into more depth and gaining real experience in how different aspects play out in the real world. We wanted the tenth grade to bridge the ninth and eleventh grades, introducing a stronger industry context for student learning.