Redefining alternative education for Guam

Brief chat with Wil Castro, Career Tech Academy principal

By Jayvee Vallejera

 Education can happen beyond the four walls of a conventional classroom. Alternative education embraces a philosophy that deviates from the mainstream formula and addresses gaps in traditional learning environments

by adopting different structures, such as the open classroom.

Wil Castro

From sailing and paddling on Agat Bay to underwater drones, aquaponics and traditional navigation, Career Tech Academy Charter School has built an alternative learning model around hands-on instruction, indigenous knowledge and an institutional willingness to take risks, said Wil Castro, Career Tech principal.

Located in Agat, Career Tech teaches basic English, math, science and social studies, while exposing students to indigenous knowledge and values-based education. The goal is to produce students of good character, Castro said.

With enrollment now at its full 200-student capacity, Career Tech is preparing to expand its footprint to Tumon Bay, explore an eighth-grade academy and launch a junior college-level Professional Learning Center before December 2027 while pursuing partnerships across the Pacific region.

“We're able to make those modifications necessary to introduce a new course, modify existing programs, or innovate to achieve a desired set of student learning outcomes that may not be achieved through conventional means, through traditional teaching means,” said Castro, a former senator.

Career Tech, which opened its doors in 2020, is one of Guam’s seven charter schools. It serves students in grades 9 through 12. The Guam Academy Charter Schools Council recently renewed Career Tech's charter for another six years.

Castro previously served as the chief planner for the Guam Department of Education and taught at Untalan Middle School. He graduated cum laude in 1996 and served as Student Regent on UOG's Board of Regents. He earned a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, won a doctoral fellowship to Teachers College, Columbia University and took coursework at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Castro, a Republican who served in the 34th and 35th Guam Legislatures, is running again for senator this year.

Career Tech’s Agat Bay location has helped shape much of its identity and its strong drive to preserve traditional knowledge. Instead of treating its setting as merely a backdrop, Career Tech has incorporated the ocean into its curriculum and extracurricular activities. Students can participate in sailing, paddling, lifeguard training, and diver certification, progressing to rescue diver certification.

The school has also introduced underwater drones and aquaponics as part of its science and technical learning opportunities.

“It helps that we're uniquely situated right there on a saltwater bay in the Pacific Ocean,” Castro said. “That allows us to do a lot of things differently when compared to a traditional classroom on land.”

Career Tech has partnered with 500 Sails, a traditional maritime advocacy group in the Northern Mariana Islands. The school is also exploring the construction of traditional vessels and paddling canoes using alternative materials, such as fiberglass composites, while preserving the knowledge systems associated with CHamoru and Micronesian navigation.

“We went from introducing a traditional seafaring program to then evolving into actually building those traditional seafaring vessels and now looking at other types of materials,” Castro said.

“Many people oversimplify or underplay the extremely sophisticated knowledge associated with traditional seafaring and navigation,” he said. “That’s physics, math and languages beyond the English language, and a whole degree of social sciences that we have yet to fully comprehend.”

Career Tech is also in preliminary talks with a college in Taiwan for a potential collaboration on indigenous studies, traditional seafaring and knowledge systems. “If things work out, then we'd like to work on a collaborative student exchange program for our high school, but more importantly, for our new Professional Learning Center and college that we hope to establish before December of next year,” Castro said.

Career Tech is also exploring opportunities to expand into other Micronesian jurisdictions within three to five years.

At the heart of Career Tech’s approach is a philosophy that treats setbacks and mistakes as opportunities and part of the learning process.

“We built a climate, an environment, where failing is acceptable. You have an idea. It doesn't go far. That's okay. You join a team, and you fall flat on your face, that's okay. But we teach our kids to get up and keep moving forward,” he said.

Ultimately, Career Tech’s growth is about more than just enrollment, new facilities or programs, Castro said. It is about giving students a reason to see a future for themselves.

That philosophy extends to athletics. From having no sports programs, Career Tech grew to 12 in less than 18 months. It recently added women’s flag football.

“The biggest challenge for me is trying to help light up that spark within them so they can figure out and have some kind of glimmer of who they are inside and what they want to be,” Castro said.

But charter school operations can be challenging. They operate under a reimbursement system, incurring expenses for salaries, utilities, supplies and equipment before receiving payment.

The model is difficult for a school working with roughly $1.5 million in revenue and only 30 to 60 days of cash available upfront. The school is funded at less than 60 percent of the per-student rate available to Guam Department of Education schools.

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Other challenges include the school’s aging infrastructure, typhoon-related disruptions to water and wastewater systems, incomplete financial records inherited from earlier operations, and transportation problems arising from sharing public school buses with GDOE.

But Castro said he welcomes these challenges and is unafraid to fix what he can.

“Career Tech is a story of hope,” he said. “No matter the circumstances, no matter the obstacles, persist, continue to move forward, have hope in a cause and in a cause greater than yourself.”

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