By Jim McGaw

PORTSMOUTH — Clusters of eighth-graders filled the Portsmouth Middle School gymnasium Monday morning, moving from table to table as high school students demonstrated everything from sound-mixing software to engineering prototypes.

For the 158 students in attendance, the career and technical education (CTE) pathways fair offered a first look at the specialty programs awaiting them next year at Portsmouth High School — and a chance to imagine what kind of learners, and professionals, they might become.

The fair, staffed by teachers and current CTE students from the high school, was designed as a hands-on introduction to Portsmouth’s expanding career pathways. Kyle Spaltholz , a seventh- and eighth-grade school counselor at PMS, said the goal was simple: get students t

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