Genesee Career Institute to hold open house for January registration

FLINT, Michigan—Genesee Career Institute will be hosting an open house in order to give high school students an exhibition of GCI’s 13 trade and college-track curriculums like culinary, video, construction, and aviation.

The open house serves as part of a multiphased approach to recruiting high school students from across all 22 Genesee County school districts. After informative high school visits by GCI, interested students were encouraged to fill out forms expressing their favorite fields of study. Those interested were invited to the GCI building in November 2019 to experience what GCI had to offer, encouraging students to register this month.

“The open house then is open to any of those students who have demonstrated interest in the programs or they’re thinking about enrolling for next year,” said GCI principal Deborah Davis.

With the exception of Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, GCI looks to mainly recruit sophomores who are on course to graduate. However, this doesn’t mean the ideal candidate needs to have impeccable grades.

“We don’t have a GPA requirement … Sometimes you have a student who isn’t that academic, but they’d be great in an automotive program or a welding program or electrical,” said Davis. The goal always is to connect students to practical experiences through internships and apprenticeships.

Lakeville High student Mina Whitehead cuts a cinnamon roll she's made into more manageable pieces. Mina Whitehead, a senior at Lakeville High School and culinary student at GCI, plans to continue her education at Mott Community College, where she is dual-enrolled. She’s yet to decide on her major, but is interested in studying baking and pastry. As a high schooler, Whitehead has already worked at Mott’s downtown restaurant, Applewood at Second and Saginaw.

For those students who are eligible, GCI offers a plethora of comprehensive programs spanning multiple fields of study including cybersecurity, architecture, medicine, law and more.

To be considered for any particular program, GCI looks at a student’s high school, the programs already being offered there, and the seats available at GCI itself. Moreso, students have to be recommended by the high school they attend.

The GCI open house will be held from 3:30-6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30 at 5081 Torrey Road in Flint. For more information on registration visit the GCI website.

This piece was written as part of an underwriting series with Genesee Intermediate School District to promote an understanding of county-wide educational programming.