Memorial Day 2009

This May 25th, people across the United States will reflect on the sacrifices that great men and women have made for our country.

Some people may mark this occasion by flying their flag at half-staff or by time with friends and family.

Whatever you may be doing this weekend, take a moment and thank a soldier or veteran for their sacrifice so that you and I can live in freedom.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Outside the Classroom

When was the last time that you went to one of your students activities outside of the classroom?

Have you ever gone to a students football, baseball of softball game? How about a band concert? When was the last 4H and FFA show you attended? Have you ever watched an Eagle Court of Honor?

If you stop and think about it, it makes a lot of sense to develop relationships with your students outside of the classroom. What a great way to show that you support them as a person when you are cheering them along with their parents.

What a great way to open up lines of communication with the parents as you work to develop parental involvement at your technology center.

Part of the enrollment management concept is that teachers and instructors have a direct impact on the enrollment and retention of students beyond what they teach in the classroom.

Imagine the possibilities that could be opened for recruitment when your students tell their friends at the home high school that the person on the second row is their welding instructor or their pre-engineering instructor. What a way to say that your technology center cares!

Imagine the impact that you could make on retention when you have a relationship of open and honest communication with your students becuase they know that they can trust you, that you can relate with them and that you are interested in them.

Think about it.

Recognizing our Seniors

Sunday I sat down to read the local paper, the Stillwater NewsPress.

One of the sections that was included in this edition was the annual Senior Section. The NewsPress runs the pictures and names of area high school students who are graduating for that year.

After thumbing through the local high schools I looked at the back page and was excited to see a large listing of area students who are graduating from Meridian Technology Center.

Not only where the students being recognized for their work at MTC, but their names included notations such as them receiving Alliance Credit or if they were a member of the National Technical Honor Society.

How are you celebrating the successes of your graduating Seniors?

Do you give students an award at their local honors assembly recognizing their Alliance credit? Do you throw a end of the year banquet for students at the technology center to celebrate their successes? When was the last time you shared students graduation pictures in the local paper?

Senior Plan Board

Saw this posted at NeverEndingSearch and thought it was a good idea to share with you.

Dr Ken Gray - Making the Case for CTE

On May 6, several members of the CareerTech System took advantage of the opportunity to listen to Dr Ken Gray, Professor of Education, Emeritus from Penn State, author of "Other Ways to Win: Creating Alternatives for High School Graduates. "

Gray spoke about how we can make the case for secondary and post-secondary CTE. He characterized his argument around three themes, the Economic Development Argument, The Equity/Opportunity Argument and Brain Drain.

Dr Gray touched on what he refers to as the "Quiet Dilemma" or that there are too few technically trained workers and to many "unskilled" dropouts and graduates. He went on to talk about his belief that technicians are the key to economic development and that the job opportunities for technicians in all careers will increase.

In closing his presentation, Dr Gray's final point was that "CTE is to some teens what AP and Honors are to others." Your Thoughts?

June

It's that time of year. Thoughts turn to fishing poles, summer camp and the endless soundtrack of Alice Cooper's Schools Out playing over and over in your mind.

Before you tune completely out, lets talk recruitment. More specifically, what will you do this summer to recruit the next crop of students to your technology center?

An important part of the year round recruitment plan is that you are taking part in building relationships at points throughout the year. The summer months are no different. Just like Cub Scout working on the SummerTime Pack Award, you should be developing a program that will lay the groundwork for your major recruitment activities and help the transition from high school to technology center and let students know that they are important.

Here are a few thoughts from our year round recruitment plan.

6TH GRADE YEAR
Teen Tours

7TH GRADE YEAR
Career Summer Camp

8TH GRADE YEAR
Tech Academy – STEM

SOPHOMORE YEAR
Rising Jr. letter

JUNIOR YEAR
Enrollment Days
Fall program planning

What are you doing this summer?

Twitter

I am guessing that by now you have heard about Twitter, and maybe you even have your own Twitter account.

This post is not to try to persuade you as to why you should or should not be on Twitter, but is an attempt at rounding up some of the CareerTech related Twitter accounts that exist, so you can stay up to date with the latest happenings of Oklahoma's CareerTech System

• Unofficial Oklahoma CareerTech: http://twitter.com/okcareertech
• Francis Tuttle Technology Center: http://twitter.com/FrancisTuttle
• Meridian Technology Center: http://twitter.com/MeridianTech
• Mid America Technology Center: http://twitter.com/MidAmericaTech
• Mid Del Technology Center: http://twitter.com/middeltech
• Moore Norman Technology Center: http://twitter.com/MooreNormanTech
• Tri County Technology Center: http://twitter.com/tricountytech

Have I missed your technology center? Who else are you following on Twitter to get your CTE information? How are you using Twitter in your communications flow?