Eureka Springs High School

 Among this year’s honorees in the Under 5,000 categories was Eureka Springs, where the local school district’s Career Technical Education program is working to prepare students to enter the job market in a number of skilled trades. In Eureka Springs, the local school district’s developing CTE program — which offers students an alternative path to college by offering career training and technical skills that can help them find good-paying jobs — is what caught the eye of the judges.  And they keep adding options, including an agriculture department headed by Jason McAfee that has already had a big effect on campus. And they keep adding options, including an agriculture department headed by Jason McAfee that has already had a big effect on campus. Since his arrival, McAfee’s students have been busy, helping set up a greenhouse and launching a hydroponics program that provided the school cafeteria with freshly grown Romaine lettuce, saving the school some money while helping improve student nutrition.