Summer Regional Occupational Program (ROP) classes are about to begin, with the sports medicine internship offered for the time in the summer. Early sign-ups for next year are available now.

ROP courses focus on building real skills necessary for a job field. They provide students not only with hands-on experience, but also with credits toward graduation.

“I took computer graphics on campus,” senior Jenna Wu said. “Even though I just took it for credits, I ended up being able to use my Photoshop skill for many projects in my other classes.”

ROP is a broad program that spans several school districts. As ROP specialist Annemarie Winter explained, availability of classes is based on factors such as availability of facilities and teachers.

Notable programs include sports medicine internship, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and culinary arts. Some courses, such as the CNA program, are more selective in enrollment than others but provide valuable work experience.

“If you ever think you want to work in film and digital media studies and you’re not sure about it, take the course,” Winter said. “You might try [it] because you think you want a career in that, and taking the class may help you decide.”

In order to take advantage of these classes, students can visit Winter in the counseling office as well as visit the Coastline ROP website for more information. Though summer classes sign-ups are over, enthusiastic students can talk to Ms. Winter for alternative options.

“I’ve always wanted to take an ROP class, because by taking a ROP class, I would get exposed to my career field one step closer,” junior Iris Jang said. “But it’s sometimes hard to manage the schedule conflicts. If I have time over the summer, I would definitely take one and expose myself to a wider world.”