Elevating Partnerships, Professional Practice, and Craftsmanship: Nazareth Prep’s Core Arts & Industry Program

Nazareth Prep is taking a new approach to workforce development education with its Core Arts & Industry Program. This innovative initiative is designed to equip students with essential skills and habits of practice, preparing them for the demands of the 21st-century workforce through the arts and dynamic pre-professional apprenticeships. This program is designed to complement and enhance the skill development that students gain through the internship program at the center of the school curriculum.

Freshman Kaylynn Harper practices 3D modeling in the Social Action and Innovation Laboratory (SAIL).

Unlike exploratory or recreational enrichment classes, the Friday Arts & Industry Core Courses offer students a rigorous and structured learning experience. Whether they are enrolled in robotics, dance, or culinary arts, students will develop valuable skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.

These unique courses are made possible through a set of vital community partnerships. Current partners include Point Park University, BotsIQ, Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Hill Dance Academy Theatre, and Hosanna House’s Center for Aviation Technology and Training. Nazareth Prep and its partners provide students with access to training from industry practitioners and experts in Friday classes on the Emsworth campus and at partner campuses across Pittsburgh. By engaging in industry work and craftsmanship, working alongside professionals, students gain practical experience and develop a strong foundation for further study and career pathway advancement.

In the Robotics Technician Pre-Apprenticeship program, for example, students earn industry-recognized credentials and gain professional experience in robotics and automation. By the third week of the course, students were already designing, building, and troubleshooting complex smart cars. Ninth-grader Tylah McCray initially found the design software challenging to learn, but she persevered. Her hard work paid off when her smart car successfully navigated the course after applying troubleshooting techniques learned in the apprenticeship. As Tylah wisely observed, “You just have to keep showing up each week and working through the challenges, and it gets better.”

Junior Mark Stuckey steps into the cockpit at Aviation Ground School.

Similarly, the Aviation Ground School course provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue careers in aviation. Aviation students take 10 hours of in-air instruction, in addition to four seat class hours each week that prepare them for licensing testing and for an array of aviation and aviation-allied careers. Junior Mark Stuckey, who is enrolled in the aviation course, is excited about learning to fly planes and drones from working pilots and getting licensed. “Even though it’s a lot of work and I have to get up earlier on Fridays, it’s worth it,” he says. “It’s an amazing experience.”

In the arts, students study dance, culinary arts, painting, photography, and ceramics. These courses are designed to foster creativity, attention to detail, conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. These courses also expose students to career pathways in these fields. In the Sweetwater culinary arts classes, students moved from learning simple knife techniques in week one to producing complex appetizer menus at pace by week ten. In dance, students are developing professional stamina as well. “The first few weeks of the HDAT Dance Intensive were tough,” admits junior Mariah Nash. “Long afternoons of dance training, especially that hour of ballet, were really hard. But we pushed through, downloaded ballet apps to practice, and now we can handle it. In the second class, we get to study jazz, modern, Afro-Caribbean, liturgical dance, and choreography. That teacher expects a lot from us too, but now we love it even though we pretend we don’t.”

In the Nazareth Prep culinary classroom, Seniors Chris Bell and Kente Allen are introduced to the culinary arts by Chef Andrew Alvarez, Culinary Coordinator at Sweetwater Center for the Arts.

All the Friday classes engage students in sustained practice and craftsmanship and give them weekly feedback from expert instructors. As a result, students are developing a stronger work ethic and learning to strive for excellence in all areas. Nazareth Prep faculty members who support the Arts and Industry course teachers are impressed by the students’ growth in a relatively short period of time. They have observed how students have honed practice and craftsmanship skills in the Friday courses and are now applying them in their academic work and internships.

Nazareth Prep’s Core Arts and Industry Program is more than just a collection of courses; it is a transformative educational experience aligned with the school’s humanistic workforce development mission. By emphasizing soft skill development, practical experience, and rigorous curriculum, the program prepares students to excel in the dynamic 21st century world of work.