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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Camp Citrus at MSS

DO NOT DELAY!!!

For only $249, a middle or high school student can attend Camp Citrus for 5 days and 4 nights of outstanding aquatic educational activities, delicious meals and overnight lodging at the Marine Science Station in Crystal River! Go to www.citrus.k12.fl.us/mss for more information and to apply for this excellent opportunity! The deadline is May 9th! Thanks to the Southwest Florida Water Management District for their generous grant to help make this camp more affordable for students in Citrus, Marion, and Hernando Counties!

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“This blog post I wrote on Feb. 16th, 2014. With all the changes coming to education in Florida and the continual requirement of transition to digital curriculum I thought this post was as relevant now as it was then and thought I would repost it to share with some of our new readers. Since this writing the pilot at CSMS has gone into a district wide innovative. Further in the current state legislative session there is proposed legislation that move up the timeline from print to digital transition.” ~Thomas

Steve Jobs on Education (Revisited)

“All books, learning materials, and assessments should be digital and interactive, tailored to each student and providing feedback in real time.” ~Steve Jobs

I just finished reading (or rather listening to the audiobook) Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. As an early computer user my second personal computer was a Macintosh 512Ke. Over the years in addition to Windows PC computers we have had Mac PowerBook 150, iPods and now an iPad 2. While I have always been interested in Jobs I have also always been an admirer of Jobs original Apple partner Steve “Woz” Wozniak who was the creator of the Apple I and the Apple II. I enjoyed reliving much of my “geeky” upbringing with computers. In chapter forty-one Isaacson shares Steve Jobs observation of the educational system. “Jobs also criticized America’s Education System, saying that it was hopelessly antiquated… It was absurd, he added, that American classrooms were still based on teachers standing at a board and using textbooks. All books, learning materials, and assessments should be digital and interactive, tailored to each student and providing feedback in real time.” Steve Jobs major competitor and colleague was Bill Gates. Gates also has been working to make changes in education through the use of his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. During Gates last meeting prior to Jobs death, Jobs and Gates spoke about the educational system together. “They agreed that computers had, so far, made surprisingly little impact on schools—far less than on other realms of society such as media and medicine and law. For that to change, Gates said, computers and mobile devices would have to focus on delivering more personalized lessons and providing motivational feedback.” In his book, Isaacson shared how Steve Jobs was asked by President Barack Obama what it would take to move manufacturing of Apple Products from China to the United States. Jobs explained that it cannot 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.” For those of us in education, Jobs opinions and observations are not new, but they are important for us to be reminded of. We might not all agree with all of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates philosophies on the American Education System but these are two men that clearly have a perspective we cannot ignore. To give you an idea of the perspective Steve Jobs and Apple have, Apple, Inc. has cash on hand today $76 billion. The United States Treasury has $74 billion or $2 billion less than Apple has of cash on hand. What excites me is that Citrus County Schools has been planning and moving in much of the direction that Jobs and Gates are suggesting. Our district last year went to a computer leasing program which updated nearly every computer system in the district and schools and will update them again every three years all at a cost near or less than what it cost to purchase computers. This means that students now have access to the latest industry software and hardware. Now what I am most excited about it our district is getting ready to initiate a pilot “One to One” mobile technology for students which will put a mobile device in the hands of every student in the pilot program. This means students will use these devices as their textbook readers and mobile learning centers. It will allow for both individual remediation and/or individual advancement for students.

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