COVID-19 is still a prevalent issue at Perry. The pandemic has greatly affected many different activities. Another activity the virus has disrupted was the CTE Tours for incoming freshmen. 

These tours were often fun for the students and CTE teachers, as they featured many activities and allowed the students to immerse themselves in the class’ environments. However, this year, due to the pandemic, the CTE tours will be going virtual. Junior, student director, Grant Woodford, commented that “Each class will get their own video…” These videos will also have a time restraint.

Brian Bernier, lead director for the CTE tour videos, added that the videos are to be at most two minutes, to keep the teachers from going on for too long. The videos are all planned to be shared on the school’s YouTube channel, Perry Live 360. There, the new students can view the virtual tours.

The structure of each video will be set up relatively the same, too.

 Of course, each class will be able to have some creative liberty and display what they want to in their video, but the videos are set to have a form of consistency with them. “The biggest thing is that we’re trying to…get everything to have a similar look, just because we wanted to be a consistent look,” Bernier stated. The structure of the videos is meant to showcase the class in the best way they can. 

Senior film crew member, James Kinney said “Most of them will just be…just kind of showcasing what you do in the class, and then like a couple interviews.” During the class showcase, they will be showing off what makes their class special and unique. An example of this format is with the culinary class. One part of their video showed the class’s current project of gingerbread house making for the holiday season. 

Marketing and Fashion are also implementing these virtual tours. The marketing classes are putting together storyboards and explanations on what the classes are about, and fashion is displaying all the projects they have done so far. They both plan to show off the different activities they do in that class. Some of the fashion activities include sewing and embroidery, but also creative design.

So with the CTE tours becoming virtual, due to COVID-19, the new upcoming freshmen will have to tour the classes online. CTE teachers and the videos’ film crew are now trying their best to represent their class in the best light possible. However, some of the teachers are not so hopeful the videos will be able to attract as many students this year. 

Rob Lange, the marketing teacher at Perry, stated, “I think it loses some of the neat factor for the kids coming in…getting a chance to come to the campus, getting a chance to meet some of the teachers and some of the students and kind of see the lay of the land…”

The fashion teacher, Arline Pryor, added about the CTE tours going virtual this year, “It’s disappointing but I’m open to new stuff. This could work better.”

Some of the CTE teachers worry about the tour’s ability to garner as many kids to join the classes and programs. Pryor believes the kids who are creative or just really want to learn will go into the CTE courses, but the video tours will not be enough to sway some undecided students. Lange also hopes the kids will find value in the CTE courses. 

Hopefully by next fall, many students will find the value of the CTE classes and join in the courses and programs.