National Technical Honor Society at WTI

“CTE provides the high level skills necessary for the 21st century workforce and integrates academics as a significant portion of the curriculum.” ~ Paul Galbenski, 2011-2012 Michigan State’s Teacher of the Year and the first Career and Technical Education teacher in Michigan to earn this prestigious award

Last Wednesday, April 9^th, 2014 was Withlacoochee Technical Institute’s National Technical Honor Society 2014 Induction Ceremony where I was the guest speaker. NTHS honors the achievements of top Career & Technical Education students, provides scholarships to encourage the pursuit of higher education, and cultivates excellence in today’s highly competitive, skilled workforce. For over 30 years, NTHS has been the acknowledged leader in the recognition of outstanding student achievement in career and technical education.

One of the educational areas in Citrus Schools I am so proud of is our Career & Technical Education programs at WTI and at our three high schools.  Programs that teach job skills and often earn career certifications, some of these examples are the Culinary Arts & Food Services, Drafting Academies, and CRHS Health Academy. But it is our flagship technical school WTI that is the center piece of CTE in Citrus Schools.  WTI has a completion or graduation rate of 91%, a licensure exam rate of 94%, a job placement rate of 91%, and last year WTI students earned 415 industry certifications.

Why am I such a strong proponent of CTE? Because I am a third generation Career & Technical Education student whose family members benefited because Career & Technical Education (or what was then referred to as vocational or business classes) were available to them. My father held over 20 certifications and was the Director of Environmental Services for a large metro hospital outside of Boston along with being a successful business owner;  my mother was a licensed practical nurse who became the Director of Risk Management & Quality Assurance at that same hospital; and  my maternal grandmother was an LPN who owned & operated her own convalescent home.  For me CTE training and certifications greatly contributed in my success in real estate, construction, and computer technology.

Why is CTE critical to our community, state and country? In Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs he writes that President Barack Obama asked Jobs what it would take to move manufacturing of Apple Products from China to the United States. Jobs explained that it could not be done.  His answer again speaks to the importance our educational system plays in the development of jobs in our country. Jobs went on to urge that a way be found to train more American Engineers. “Apple had 700,000 factory workers employed in China”, he said, “and that was because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. You can’t find that many Factory Engineers in America to hire,” he added. These Factory Engineers in China did not have to be PhDs or geniuses; they simply needed to have basic engineering skills for manufacturing. Tech schools, community colleges, or trade schools could train them. “If you could educate these engineers,” Jobs said, “then we could move more manufacturing plants here.” This is what WTI’s CTE studies are doing each school day and HTHS is honoring.

On this evening I was honored to receive an Honorary Membership into the National Technical Honor Society by WTI Director Denise Willis and WTI’s NTHS Advisor Victoria Sleighter.

I will continue to be an advocate for CTE in our schools and community because job skills, training and certifications have a direct correlation to personal and community economic success.

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It’s been said, “The person who’s on the top of the mountain, did not simply fall there by accident.” CTE students choose to learn today so that they may be successful in a job tomorrow!

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