What is the 17th Career Cluster? It is a new career cluster, available in the 2020/2021 school year*,  all about Energy and all the career options that come with that. The courses that will be available provide core skills that easily translate to energy industries. Energy industry careers can be lineman to nuclear engineers but it can also be like other industries who are looking for architects, construction workers, manufacturing, welders, marketing specialist, customer support personnel and more which increases a student’s options for a career.

Careers in the energy industry can cover many opportunities in the world of energy that are important in today’s world such as renewable, sustainable, inexhaustible energy and more. Students will have study options such as solar, wind, nuclear, biomass. natural gas, oil, coal, and more.

With approximately one-third of Virginia’s current Energy workforce eligible to retire by 2025-2026, equating to several thousand well-paying, sustainable careers you can see the importance of getting students ready to enter into those careers. Critical, in-demand careers, include electric line workers and engineers, operators, technicians, and welders across all sectors of the industry.

*Available to all Virginia schools from the Virginia Department of Education but it is up to each school system if and when they will implement it.