ACTE's Industry Connect Blog

State Career and Technical Education Policies Hard at Work: A Series of Success Stories

As I travel around the country, I have the opportunity to see impactful Career and Technical Education (CTE) policies in action. These policies not only assist administrators and teachers in doing great things in the classroom to prepare our youth for meaningful futures, but also engage employers in the preparation of our youth. Last month, we focused on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where the state’s CTE policy, House Bill 4313, has helped Copper Country Intermediate School District collaborate with industry representatives and utilize $5 million in grants to help students develop welding and manufacturing skills. This month, we’re focusing on Douglas County, Oregon, where a $432,000 career-readiness grant awarded by the state will help high school students in 13 school districts prepare for in-demand healthcare jobs right in their own communities.

“One of our goals is to grow our own,” said Analicia Nicholson, Education Services Director of the Douglas Education Service District, the fiscal agent for the grant. “We’ve got incredibly talented kids in Douglas County, and we want to make sure they’re prepared with the skills that will make them successful.”

In Douglas County, that means equipping students with skills they need to succeed in health occupations jobs, which are in high demand across the state. In 2016, only 56% of primary care health professional shortage areas in Oregon had enough physicians to meet demand. What’s more, healthcare occupations jobs throughout the state are projected to grow by 31% by 2020.

“Local demand for health occupations is huge,” said Nicholson. “What’s more, we’ve surveyed our students and found that health occupations courses are one of the leading pathways that kids are interested in… it was a matter of getting our youth access to the knowledge and careers that are available.”

That access will begin when the 2018-2019 school year commences, thanks to funds from the Oregon Department of Education’s Career & Technical Education Revitalization Grant. Starting this fall, the Umpqua Healthcare Pathways Program will offer high school students from 13 school districts in Douglas County a choice between two types of healthcare pathways. One pathway will allow students to complete a Basic Allied Health Certificate while still in high school, an accomplishment that can help them qualify upon graduation for entry-level allied health careers like cardiovascular technicians, ophthalmic medical technicians and medical assistants. The second healthcare pathway is designed to ensure that students who are on a path toward careers that require a more advanced level of education and training, like registered nurses or a physician assistants, have the necessary prerequisites and curriculum to continue successfully.

Randy Hubbard is the Main Surgical Services Manager at Mercy Medical Center, one of 14 industry partners who have collaborated to bring the program to fruition. He is helping coordinate job shadow opportunities at Mercy so students can observe the many career paths a hospital has to offer, like surgical robotics, biomedical electronics and radiology.

“The partnerships we’ve developed between education and industry is going to be hugely beneficial to everybody,” said Hubbard. “In a few years, the kids who will be job shadowing here this fall could be filling those hard-to-fill positions, championing the program and helping draw even more new students in. The long-term benefits of the program are really exciting.”

Umpqua Economic Development Partnership (UEDP) Executive Director Wayne Patterson agrees that recruitment is one of the many benefits of the program. A former private-sector CEO, Patterson has been a key player in the creation of the Umpqua Healthcare Pathways Program. When he joined the UEDP in 2015, he was tasked with developing a new strategic plan for the community. His conversations with education and industry representatives are what helped initiate program plans.

“I asked all the businesses what they needed, and they all had the same answer: workforce,” said Patterson. “Their limitation in growth is not based upon market opportunities; it’s based upon the fact that they’re limited in the workforce they can recruit and maintain.”

Meetings began in early 2017 between representatives of the UEDP, the school districts and local healthcare businesses. The goal was clear: build pipelines from local high schools to employers and technical training, community colleges and other types of community programs to help fill demand for health occupations in the county. The 13 Douglas County school districts applied as a consortium for the grant last summer. Thanks to partnerships between Umpqua Community College (UCC), through which the Basic Allied Health Certificate Program will be offered and which is helping ensure that county high school teachers have the training they need; the UEDP and the Area Health Collaborative, schools that had previously offered health occupations programs and schools that are new to such programs are all preparing to offer these courses to students this fall. Funds from the 18-month grant also support a Career & Technical Education regional coordinator position.

“This year, every single high school in Douglas County will have an allied health certificate program, and every junior or senior can earn up to 18 UCC college credits and earn an allied health certificate while they’re still in high school,” said Patterson. “That puts them in the front of the line for any high school allied health career path for any job in the county… we’re building pipelines to be able to fill this massive workforce demand that we’ve got in Douglas County.”

According to Nicholson, the program would not exist without the state-level CTE policies that support these efforts, plus the three-pronged collaboration that developed between educators, industry leaders and the UEDP as a result.

“What is unique about what we do is that our advisory committee is education and workforce development and industry,” said Nicholson. “We’ve got the educators who know how to teach kids, we’ve got the workforce development who understands the need in the community, and we’ve got industry who are saying what they need – and everyone is connected.”

 

By Timm Boettcher, President & CEO, Realityworks, Inc.

State Career and Technical Education Policies Hard at Work: A Series of Success Stories

    As I travel around the country I have the opportunity to see impactful Career and Technical Education (CTE) policies in action. These policies not only assist administrators and teachers in doing great things in the classroom to prepare our youth for meaningful futures, but also policies that engage employers in the preparation of our youth. Over the next few months we will take you on a journey sharing stories of state policies that are making a difference. Our first story takes us to Michigan, where profound education and industry relationships have been formed through the state’s CTE policy, House Bill 4313, that is helping seed and solidify strong industry relationships.

    Copper Country Intermediate School District (CCISD) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is one of 14 districts and intermediate districts that have been awarded $5 million grants to help ensure the success of what one area manufacturer considers the region’s biggest commodity: its CTE students.

    “My customer base is on all four shores of the US and in countries around the world. But everywhere I go, there’s no people – businesses have no access to talent,” said L'Anse Manufacturing President Mark Massicotte. “These students are assets we need to capitalize on. That’s why CTE is so important.”

    The CCISD was awarded a $364,000 grant for welding and manufacturing equipment from the Michigan Department of Education. Thanks to the grant and funds from a CTE millage that was passed last year, CCISD students will not only be able to continue taking courses in construction, health careers, machine tooling and auto technology this fall, but participate in new CTE programs like welding, culinary arts, computer programming, early childhood education and more.

    According to CCISD CTE Director Shawn Kolbus, input from local employers like L’Anse Manufacturing was key in helping the district determine which programs to have. The district surveyed over 80 local businesses throughout Houghton, Baraga and Keweenaw counties, and learned that 62 percent of local businesses had a need for skilled labor, 54 percent thought the current CTE classes were vital to their organizations and 46 percent stated more CTE classes were needed.

    “When we first were planning for the welding class, welding skills were our focus,” Kolbus. “But after meeting with business and industry, it became apparent that these companies don’t just hire welders – they hire people who can manufacture and create things.”

    An expanded CTE program is just one result of the grant funding and the millage, which will levy $1.2 million for 10 years. Renovations on the district’s CTE center are underway, and the district is preparing to offer new work-based learning opportunities. Teachers and counselors will be able to participate in externships and see first-hand the specific skills that area businesses need, and earn professional development credit in the process. Without the support from private businesses in the area, these opportunities wouldn’t be available.

    “We’ve had a lot of support from the community, and business and industry,” said Kolbus. “When the grant opportunity came up, we had 18 different manufacturing companies sign letters of support. In my opinion, that’s one of the biggest factors in us getting that award, that partnership we had with businesses.”

    According to Massicotte, who is also a member of the Michigan Works! Workforce Development Board and chairman of the Workforce Development Board for the UPWARD Talent Council of Michigan Works!, the skills CTE students learn are critical for the success of the entire community. The programs allow students to learn the academic, technical and employability skills they need to succeed while giving them the chance to experiment with what they want to do and discover what actually happens on the job. L'Anse Manufacturing has committed to offering a four-year apprenticeship program that will enable students to earn industry-recognized certificates. The company also offers a second-year machining program where students work on-site for two hours each day, plus work-based learning and job shadowing opportunities.

    "When the private sector gets involved with programs at the school and throw some validity and dedicated outcomes into the mix, the participants see that, and they’ll show up with a different perspective," said Massicotte, who was awarded the 2017 Community Leadership Award for his support of CCISD’s CTE program improvement efforts. “CTE is critical as we train these young people to work.”

    Doug Jurmu is president of Royale Incorporated, which has provided machining, fabrication and engineering services to the area for over three decades. His support for CCISD includes curriculum development and the establishment of a machine shop.

    “We struggle to hire machinists and fabricators,” said Jurmu. “We could find more work very easily, but we need to be able to do it, too. So when it comes to the CTE programs that Copper Country ISD is trying to implement next year, well, it will be a win-win for all involved.”

    CCISD spans three counties and serves nine high schools. According to Kolbus, the district is expecting enrollment to more than double. CCISD also plans to offer adult classes, including welding and manufacturing, and Kolbus is reaching out to local manufacturers to see if they have any training needs the district can help fulfill.

    "The benefits of all this will go well beyond what we're seeing now,” said Kolbus. “These local manufacturers know we're producing students who could become their employees. I can't stress enough not only how important these businesses are, but how receptive they've been to what we're trying to do."

 

By Timm Boettcher, President & CEO, Realityworks, Inc.

Growth Opportunities in the U.S. Army

Under the direction of our Nation’s leaders, the U.S. Army is undertaking its latest mission to increase its total size by approximately 17,000 Soldiers by Sept. 30, 2018. What does this mean? It means the Army is hiring – and in a big way.

However, a hiring boom does not mean hiring just anyone. The Army invests heavily in its Soldiers, and candidates must be physically healthy, mentally resilient and have strong moral character. For those who join the Army,  there are exceptional growth opportunities available to them.

As one of the country’s largest supporters of secondary education opportunities, the Army not only supports its Soldiers’ educational aspirations, but also provides opportunities for students at all stages of their educational journeys. The Army supports students whether they are in graduate school, enrolled in technical colleges and internship programs, or are unsure of their next step after high school.

One way the Army supports Soldiers’ career and educational growth is through the Army Credentialing Opportunities On-Line program (COOL). COOL allows Soldiers to seek out credentials through licensure, certifications and apprenticeships as they work in their given career fields. Credentialing is important as it can contribute not only to Soldiers’ military career development, but it also makes them attractive prospects to civilian employers.

As the Army continues to grow, skills obtained by students enrolled in CTE training are in high demand for Army Soldiers. For instance, the Army currently has a special hiring bonus – nearly $10,000 – for Motor Transport Operators (88M). The skills learned in this career path align with what CTE students of the Transportation, Distribution and Logistics career cluster are learning. Check out the ACTE trading card on the 88M career here: https://bit.ly/2vyXdHl

 

 

This is just one of the many military occupational specialties that is in high demand by the U.S. Army this year. They are also hiring benefits and opportunities in fields related to cyber security, engineering, communications, medicine, culinary arts, network systems and more. To see trading cards for some of these other careers, visit http://bit.ly/2uhB1wl

For more information, visit www.goarmy.com or contact an Education Services Specialist at your local recruiting battalion.

Full COOL link: https://www.cool.army.mil/index.htm

Full 88M trading card link: https://www.acteonline.org/uploadedFiles/Dump/Motor%20Transport.pdf

Full link trading cards: https://www.acteonline.org/general.aspx?id=12284#.WVpY3JLytEY

National Kitchen & Bath Association

Want to teach the next best thing?

Virtualization has become the hottest topic in technology. Why do we need to know about virtualization? Because virtualization is becoming as universal as smartphones
Virtualization is the process of creating a software-based (or virtual) representation of something rather than a physical one. Talk about saving companies a lot of money.
Just about every household now utilizes Netflix for streaming video? What’s their secret? Software! Our whole world is moving to software virtualization.
Why is this important? It is difficult to fill many of these jobs globally and is definitely the next big thing to teach our students.

Educational Pathways

It’s an exciting time to be in IT. It’s a field where you continuously learn new skills. Much of IT is knowing the technology but also knowing how to solve problems and recognize patterns.
How do you start a career in technology? Many high schools offer IT programs for students to learn the basics and continue this career path in a two-year technical college or university.
Certifications Matters and Salaries are Up
Top IT jobs, top IT pay and top IT certification surveys for the last six years, show at least one virtualization entry in every single one of them. Wow!
That makes a strong case that virtualization is a good set of skills and knowledge for any IT professional.
While there are different levels of VMware certification, the average salary range for this type of certification is between $45,604 and $148,406. The more certifications achieved. the higher a salary. Look at www.indeed.com for your city for the demand for VMware engineers.

Why VMware?

VMware, Inc. is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and digital workspace. VMware recognizes the need to provide knowledge to train our future workforce. With that in mind, we have just rolled out our NEW Introduction to Virtualization course.
Introduction to Virtualization is a free online course to anyone and powered by our partner NDG. Upon completion, the student will receive a VMware Digital Badge.

Try it first-hand by clicking on “Launch Course”.  It really is a super entry-level offering for anyone looking to learn more about virtualization.

 

Some of the features include:  

• Easy-to-read course material, divided into sections with graphics.
• Videos that illustrate and reinforce the course material.
• Four (4) new VMware Workstation labs from NETLAB+ that provide hands-on experience

If you want to recommend a course to students so that they can be a Help Desk, Systems Admin, IT support Specialist, or other IT related job, this is the course for them.   

If any school is interested in becoming a VMware IT Academy to teach additional courses, please email it-academy@vmware.com.   For more information: www.vmware.com/go/academy

National Wood Flooring Association

Woodwork Career Alliance Blazes a Trail for Rewarding Careers

Technological advances continue to transform how furniture, cabinets and other wood products are designed, manufactured, assembled and finished. In addition to developments like the advent of five-axis machining centers and robotic finishing lines, mainstay industry workhorses - table saws, moulders, sanders, etc. - have been improved to be more productive and safer to operate.

The woodworking technology revolution has spawned great career opportunities for CAD/CAM programmers, CNC operators and other essential skilled positions that are in high demand but short supply.

Enter the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America.

The WCA was established 10 years ago to help develop and grow a skilled woodworking workforce. The WCA has created more than 240 measurable woodworking skill standards running the gamut from accurately reading a tape measurer through operating a CNC router. The skill standards are being used to develop woodworking education curricula and industry training programs.

Complementing the Skill Standards is the WCA’s Passport credentialing program. The WCA Passport is a portable, personal and permanent record of woodworking skill achievements. The more than 1,600 students and professionals who currently hold Passports boost their career potential by earning points which are awarded each time they demonstrate their proficiency of specific woodworking operations covered by the Skill Standards.

More than 100 high school woodworking programs distributed throughout North America are EDUcation members of the WCA. Students enrolled at these institutions are eligible to earn a Sawblade certificate by demonstrating basic skills with a jointer, table saw, portable hand sander and drill press, plus passing an online test.

The Sawblade certificate provides high schools with a way to recognize and celebrate the achievements of their woodworking students. These students are well poised to advance through the credentialing process by accumulating additional Passport points and gaining industry experience.

Together, the WCA Skill Standards and Passport program provide a pathway for a woodworker’s professional development and earnings potential.

Learn more about the WCA and its programs at www.WoodworkCareer.org.

By Rich Christianson

U.S. Army Encourages Wellness and Resiliency Through “Performance Triad”

When you think about the training U.S. Army Soldiers receive, you might first think of stern Drill Sergeants issuing orders, physical training, and belly-crawls through the mud. While these scenarios may be a part of Soldiers’ training to be able to perform at their peak, the U.S. Army also promotes a more holistic type of training through what is referred to as the Performance Triad.

The Performance Triad not only contributes to physical supremacy, but to emotional resilience and cognitive dominance as well, all important to sustaining the Army’s workforce. Getting plenty of rest, eating a nutritious diet, and participating in physical training on a regular basis are all part of the triad, which helps Soldiers achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle. And this approach extends beyond the individual Soldier as well: when applied more broadly, the elements of the triad are also what keep Soldiers’ families and communities physically, mentally and emotionally fit.

The Army is also working to promote the Performance Triad even more broadly to the nation’s communities at large. The Army knows that healthy lifestyles don’t develop overnight, and simple changes to your daily routine can greatly improve long-term wellness. For instance, going caffeine-free for six hours before bedtime can improve the quality of sleep, and aiming to reach 10,000 steps per day can positively contribute to higher levels of physical fitness.

The elements of the Performance Triad can and should connect with most CTE and other educational programs since healthy workers tend to be happier and more productive.  

The below infographic identifies healthy target behaviors that can be applied by anyone in their daily life – Drill Sergeants optional!

 

 

 

For more information on the Army’s Performance Triad, watch this video http://bit.ly/2fD8QBN or visit the Performance Triad website.

Full video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIl-bnn3C1o

Performance Triad website full link: http://armymedicine.mil/Pages/performance-triad.aspx

We Asked, They Answered: Students Respond to Questions about How We Provide Career Education

Have you ever wondered what career prep programs would look like if students were in charge? At a recent Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) conference, Bright Futures Press invited 57 students representing 16 states, and ranging in age from eighth grade to recent high school graduate, to answer a few questions about the supports they need to prepare for bright futures. Admittedly, these were very informal focus groups, and the questions were not specifically designed with employers in mind, but the responses provide some insight about how we engage students and get them to think about their courses as pathways to employment.

Following is a summary of how the students responded:

We Asked: What’s been your best career prep experience so far?

They Answered:

• School class that sparked interest
• Career fairs, college fairs, and career days
• FCCLA experiences (this could be interpreted as “CTSO experiences”)
• Job shadowing and worksite visits
• Part time-job

We Asked: What’s been your worst career experience so far?

They Answered:

• School class that didn’t live up to expectation
• Career fairs, college fairs, and career days
• Personality tests
• Class speaker (specifically when not given a choice on topic)
• Online career program

We Asked: How good a job is your school doing to prepare you for college and career?

They Answered:

• 40% said Excellent
• 33% said Average
• 27% said Poor

We Asked: What three tools would be most helpful in preparing you for college and career?

They Answered:

• Internships
• Job shadowing
• College & career fairs

Students also suggested a variety of classes they would like to see--career workshops about jobs, activity fairs, career readiness classes, special classes for specific careers, one-on-one courses, college courses in high school, and online courses. And, they shared a wish list that included clubs, camps, early graduation, and free college.

We Asked: Do you know what CTE is?

They Answered:

• 19 students said yes
• 29 students said no

However, after discussing what CTE is, 38 realized that their school does indeed offer CTE courses and 32 indicated that they either were or would be taking a CTE course in the future.

We Asked: Do you know what career pathways are?

They Answered:

Only eight of the students did not know what career pathways are. The career pathways they said they knew the most about are Agriculture, Health Science, Arts & Communication, and Education. The career pathways they are most curious to learn more about are Health Science, Arts & Communication, Human Services, and Business.

We Asked: Has FCCLA helped prepare you for your future career more than any other source?

They Answered:

Twenty-five students said yes, 11 said maybe, 12 said no. Thirty-six students also indicated that they would like to see more of a career focus in FCCLA. Fourteen students said maybe.

These responses, while encouraging on several levels, have engendered even more questions. Bright Futures Press walked away from the sessions with two conclusions:

• We as educators are on the right track. When well-executed, students indicated career fairs and school classes among their best experiences. However, other students indicated these events among their worst experiences which means more needs to be done before we can claim success in adequately preparing students for college and career.
• Students, as the ultimate stakeholder, can help guide the way in getting career education “right.” It’s important that we listen to their input as we seek to improve programming and strengthen connections to employers and careers.

Diane Lindsey Reeves is an author and publisher who has spent many years and lots of ink helping students of all ages figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Her company, Bright Futures Press (www.brightfuturespress.com), is currently focused on providing creative career exploration experiences for middle grade students.

U.S. Army is Increasing its Size by Adding Soldiers in STEM Career Fields

As one of the strongest and most elite teams in the world, the U.S. Army is undertaking a new and determined mission to increase its total size to 1.018 million – an addition of approximately 28,000 Soldiers by Sept. 30, 2017.  

With the deadline quickly approaching, the Army is working tirelessly to find top recruits who are resilient, healthy and have character – a difficult mission as the pool of qualified candidates continues to decline. Today, only 3 out of 10 youth between the ages of 17-24 qualify to serve in the Army, and of that small percentage of qualified candidates, many remain misinformed about the opportunities that the Army offers – both in and out of uniform.

The Army provides more scholarships for college education than any other institution in the country and offers the best training and skills development in more than 200 fields, including engineering, cyber security, medicine, communications, automotive, culinary arts and more. ACTE and the U.S. Army have partnered to create trading cards highlighting CTE careers in the Army. For more information about Army CTE careers that are currently in demand, check out our new Army Trading Cards here: http://bit.ly/

The Army continues to invest in its leaders because education is key to the success of the whole organization, especially in its various missions. The Army provides its Soldiers the tools and resources to pursue life-long education and a successful career, so that Soldiers never have to sacrifice one for the other, but instead can enjoy the benefits of both.  

By increasing its size, the Army will be able to better meet the challenges of an increasingly uncertain security environment. The increase in Soldiers will also strengthen the capabilities of the total force, including the active component which will increase by 16,000, the Army National Guard which will increase by 8,000, and the Army Reserve which will increase by 4,000.

As the Army works to enlist top talent, it will use a variety of personnel management tools to meet the new troop strength requirement, including recruiting and retention bonuses and a focus on officer retention.  The Army is also offering enlistment contracts as short as two years for almost 100 military occupational specialties, which also include benefits for education.

Though the number of men and women eligible to serve in the Army remains small, the Army’s mission remains ambitious – to continue to recruit top-quality Soldiers that demonstrate the attributes of strong leaders.

For more information about the opportunities the Army provides, please visit www.goarmy.com or talk to an Education Services Specialist at your local recruiting battalion.

These are just a few of the military occupational specialties to which the U.S. Army is adding additional personnel this year. To see others, visit http://bit.ly/2uhB1wl

 

Full link: https://www.acteonline.org/general.aspx?id=12284#.WVpY3JLytEY