The Miller Career and Technology Center (MCTC) is a building off campus that students go to in order to pursue specific career paths, or simply to learn a new skill and develop new interests. The Center is focused on helping students get a head start on ideas for what they want to do in college and for their potential career in the future.

“I think my favorite part about Miller is the career opportunities it gives me. I am gaining insight on paths I want to take like culinary arts, or digital arts, and other programs like that,” said junior Reed Ervin.

MCTC engages students in real classroom activities and teachers are required to utilize collaboration among the students along with active participation in class in order to give students the knowledge needed for their course. Classrooms include a mix of students from different schools all over KatyISD, and everyone works together towards a common goal.

“I do a cosmetology course at Miller and I love being able to learn about it because I get to practice skills I will need for my future career,” said junior Avila Burkhalter.

Culinary Arts is just one of the many programs available for students at Miller. There are business and industry classes like architecture and hospitality services, public service programs like cosmetology and criminal justice, and it also includes one STEM program. The variety of career fields gives students an opportunity to get advanced learning on the topic they are interested in.

“Going into culinary, I didn’t realize there was so much to learn about it and so much for it’s career path,” said Ervin. “Now I’ve become interested in attending another culinary school in the future.”

The Miller Career and Technology Center was founded in 1994, and currently holds 1,150 students. Whether in film and digital audio or dental assisting and engineering, the career center is the perfect place for those that want to gain a new skill or simply figure out what they want to do in college.

“I wanted to do Miller because I liked the feeling of being off- campus, and I got to take a class that will be useful for me since I want to do cosmetology after I graduate,” said junior Avila Burkhalter.

Students enrolled in a class at Miller are not just learning new skills, but they are also having fun while doing so. Being able to cook food in class is just one example of the bonuses Miller has to offer for students there. For students in Veterinary Assisting, students get to learn using real animals and can see dogs and other pets while they are in the classroom.

“I am going to do Culinary Arts next year because I think Miller is a great opportunity to gain experience in the real world,” said Ervin. “And also because it is fun to leave school and go make food for an hour.”

Miller also teaches good people skills, since students are a lot of the time required to work in groups and use teamwork to solve a problem or finish a final product. These skills will be very important in the work field because more often than not students’ future job will require the ability to talk and work along with others. It also allows students to be social and make strong bonds with their peers.

“Miller has given me the benefit of meeting new people, because I get to be around people from different schools that I would have never known before. We all get to bond over our common interest in enjoying cooking food,” said Ervin.