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Superintendent Molly McComas has a clear goal for Clark County Public Schools.

“I think our biggest goal is going to be raising students that are going to be awesome humans,” she told the Winchester Rotary Club Friday. “They are going to be great husbands and great wives, and they are going to be good dads and good moms.”

All in all, McComas wants the district’s students to become upstanding citizens who come back and contribute to their community, whether they coach little league or run for school site-based councils.

And sometimes, that means pushing aside the traditional narrative for their futures.

“We as educators have got to stop pushing that college is your only option,” McComas said.

As a result, she said that CCPS is dedicated to finding new vocational pathways for its students, whether it is offering training at the district’s technology center or with Bluegrass Community and Technical College.

The district has programs for vocations such as carpentry and nursing. George Rogers Clark’s journalism classes also offer media and public relations experience, McComas said.

The superintendent also highlighted students’ different extracurricular opportunities with athletics, drama, JROTC, etc.

“Clark County has got a lot of hidden gems in it,” McComas said. “We have a very unique setup in Clark County … It’s not just a basketball town, or it’s not just a high-quality vocational program, we have a lot of opportunities for kids.”

McComas said that the district wants to expose its students to what opportunities await them in high school, so GRC media students are producing promo videos for that very reason.

The superintendent also updated the rotary club on various issues the district is tackling: maintaining its substitute teacher numbers, keeping schools open during the COIVD-19 pandemic, getting homeschooled students back into public schools, and the progress on the new preschool building.