BERRYVILLE — All students can benefit from taking Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses, Clarke County officials say.

“It opens their eyes,” said Terri Catlett, the Millwood District representative on the Clarke County Board of Supervisors.

The opposite can happen, too.

“Sometimes the value is finding out what you don’t want to do,” Clarke County Public Schools Superintendent Chuck Bishop told the supervisors on Thursday.

Of the 693 students at Clarke County High School this year, 657 — almost 95 percent — are taking at least one CTE course, Bishop said. There are roughly 1,200 enrollments in CTE courses altogether, which indicates more than half of the students are taking two or more courses.

“We have a lot of students on an advanced academic track” who take CTE courses, Bishop pointed out.

Bishop said he wants to dispel a notion that CTE is only for students not planning to go to college.

According to an information packet he provided the supervisors, CTE in Virginia is designed to give students a meaningful learning experience that connects with their personal interests, helps develop their understanding of future economic needs worldwide and deepens their understanding of how academic skills and knowledge can be applied in their future academic pursuits and careers.

As part of its CTE program, Clarke County High School now offers courses pertaining to eight career clusters and industry certifications. They are: agriculture, food and natural resources; transportation, distribution and logistics; architecture and construction; health sciences; business management and administration; information technology; marketing and manufacturing.

Courses range from carpentry to sports medicine.

“CTE programs have come a long way,” said supervisors Vice Chairman Bev McKay, who represents the White Post District.

Bishop said that since 2015, the number of CTE courses in the county schools has increased from about 50 to more than 70.

As part of earning a standard high school diploma, students in Virginia now must earn some type of CTE credential, such as a certification within a particular industry or health field, Bishop said. A certified nursing assistant credential, for which a state licensure examination is required, is an example.

About 475 students at Johnson-Williams Middle School are enrolled in CTE courses, Bishop added. Those courses pertain to agriculture, technology, computer science and career exploration.

Virginia now requires school personnel to start working with individual students on developing career plans as early as elementary school. But they realize career goals could change multiple times over the years as a student’s interests change, Bishop said.