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Nederland High School starts a new technical career course in dog grooming for its students this semester. 

Teacher Amanda Ward was first approached by the school for a new course that could be taught at the high school after its food processing lab was shut down. “I was like ‘dog grooming is a big thing that a lot of (CTE) programs are doing dog grooming are doing’ and they said ‘okay’,” said Ward. 

The course is more than just dog grooming, says Ward. The students are learning more than just washing dogs and cutting their nails. 

“The dog grooming is like a business,” said Ward. “They check in the clients, they check them out,  they learn how to go over files and payments. They are also getting some hands-on knowledge on working with the veterinarian world as well.”

The grooming services are currently limited to teachers and staff at Nederland ISD but the school hopes to have it open to the public sometime later this year.

Senior Malana Vasseur hopes to one day become an exotic veterinarian, and she believes that this course is a great stepping stone into that career. 

“I wanted to take this course just to get a better feel of how to deal with animals and to have all that experience that I need to learn so that when I go to college I am prepared,” said Vasseur. 

This semester marks the first year that this course is available to students as the school looks to expand it in the years to come.

“I’m very blessed to even be able to be in the class,” said Senior, Moira Harren. “I thought it was my year to be the first year, but it’s very exciting to get hands-on opportunities that you might not be in other schools.”    

The program stems from the NHS Career and Technical Education program. The CTE program comes as part of the New High School construction from last year. The program has its own dedicated section of the school aptly named CTE Hall. 

NHS will continue to offer these CTE programs in an effort to not only send students to college but also prepare them for the workforce.