SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — More than 650 students ranging from elementary to high school in the San Diego Unified School District are showing off their projects at the student innovation showcase.

These young innovators are in a program that allows them to focus on solutions to real world problems while learning about different careers from music, to cooking, to automotive repair.

“It teaches you a lot of discipline,” said high school senior Alejandro Varela.

College, Career and Technical Education is a multi-year program preparing students for careers in specialized fields.

The program offers classrooms tailored to the subject matter — including a professional kitchen, broadcast news studios, healthcare settings and an automotive shop.

“We got it just the shell and wheels, so it had no motor, no batteries, no speed controller,” Varela said.

Building the working components of a switch-lab car from start to finish during his time in the program.

“It makes around 134 horsepower and it goes zero to sixty in around six seconds,” Varela said.

Varela says he will continue to pursue automotive studies at Miramar College after graduation.

Other projects were more tech focused. Ahanh Nguyen’s team created an app and website.

“…Creating a digital road map for students to find mental health resources,” said high school junior Ahanh Nguyen.

This project didn’t necessarily lead to a career path, but provided them with technical skills setting them up for success in other fields.

“It has opened a lot of doors for me and opened my eyes to what is out there because right now I’m thinking of going into engineering,” Nguyen said.

With more than 27 different paths students can pursue program leaders hope it will help give them direction.

“We want students to maybe find something that they’re interested in that gets them excited about what they’re learning and then they can actually find a path that they want to follow,” said Sarah Vielma, San Diego Unified School District Office of College Career and Technical Education Director.