Career Academy adds criminal justice pathway

The Career Academy (TCA) has added its 17th career pathway, criminal justice, and it’s already in high demand.

Nearly 50 students are enrolled in the pathway, which offers dual-credit courses designed to prepare students for additional college coursework in criminal justice and potential careers that include law enforcement, investigations, county court, corrections and homeland security.  

“It’s been a really strong start to a great pathway,” said TCA Director Dan Hohensee.

TCA is a joint venture between Lincoln Public Schools and Southeast Community College (SCC). Students take pathway courses at SCC for two hours a day and take the rest of their courses at their home high schools.

For the criminal justice pathway, courses include Intro to Criminal Justice; Police and Society; Criminal Law; and Ethics in Criminal Justice.

One of the pathway’s instructors, Chad Paavola from SCC, said students have expressed interest in a variety of careers.

“Traditional policing, forensic criminology and some students are interested in going into law and probation. There also is one student who has expressed interest in financial crime investigations,” said Paavola, who worked in law enforcement and criminal justice education for more than 10 years before recently joining SCC. “Being able to start this sort of coursework in high school allows the students to explore many more avenues - to find what interests them most at a younger age.”

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