With an eye toward re-energizing the career and technical education (CTE) programs at Newberg High School, the school district will debut a free twice-weekly after-school program for middle schoole students Sept. 16.

“Eighth Period” will consist of six separate six-week sessions throughout the school year in which teachers and students will work with a community partner to complete a project.

“All of us are stakeholders on the same end goal,” district teacher on special assignment (TOSA) Andy Byerley said. “(Community partners) get a chance to get some work done on a project. The kids get a chance to learn what those real world projects are and the teachers get to practice coordinating with a community partner. So it’s a win all the way around.”

Registration for the program is open and can be done online at the district website, www.newberg. k12.or.us. Only 24 spots (12 per middle school) are available for the first session, which will center on creek restoration.

Free transportation to the high school and snacks will be provided for participants, with class sessions running from 3:15 to 5:15 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“Right now we need kids,” Byerley said. “We’ve got the back end of it pretty well organized, so we’re hoping in getting the word out quickly that we’ll be able to get our 24 (for session 1) by the end of the week.”

Mountain View Middle School teacher Shirley Hansen has teamed up with the city of Newberg, the Greater Yamhill Watershed Council and a local landowner to restore an area of Hess Creek.

The last session of the camp, which was the original impetus behind the district’s application for a $500,000 CTE Revitalization Grant from the state, will also center on restoring the Hess Creek property, but will provide a different perspective when done in the spring as opposed to the fall.

Session 2 of the series will be about creating a business plan, culminating with a “Shark Tank” like scenario where students will pitch their plans to the community business partner.

Session 3 will be oriented to industrial arts manufacturing and electronics, followed by a coding camp for session 4 and crowd-funding for session 5.

One goal of the camp is to serve as many students as possible, so students will likely be limited to attending one session, although more spaces in the program could be opened up for future sessions.

The program will also include two public showcases to display the work done by students, likely near the end of each semester.