FIRST Kickoff

Check out the game animation from FIRST

FIRST is an awesome opportunity to see high school kids do some really amazing stuff! It is more than building robots, though that is a big part. Kids are having fun learning, they are learning about marketing, salesmanship, programming, building, I could go on and on and on........

For more information on FIRST Robotics in Oklahoma go to http://www.oklahomafirst.org/. The competition is being held March 25-27 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

Financial Aid Night

College admission deadlines are right around the corner and that means that it is time for students to start thinking about financial aid.

As part of the CareerTech System, it is our responsibility to eliminate barriers to transitions. One barrier to successful transitioning of students to college from the technology center is that many of our students are first generation students and their parents have no or limited knowledge of completing financial aid applications and how to search for scholarships.

This is where hosting a Financial Aid night can benefit your district.

During a Financial Aid Night, parents and students are encouraged to attend and learn about the many ways they can gain aid to pay for college.

Topics covered could include the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, Oklahoma's Promise, Fast Web and deadlines of college partner scholarship applications.

There are many ways to host the evening. Our suggestion is to hold it on the campus of the local technology center and invite sending schools to attend. Hold the event during a time that parents could attend (after work hours) and make sure that the event is advertised. Invite the Cooperative Alliance partner to particiapte and encourage students to apply for every opportunity that they can find.

Here are a couple of resources to help you in planning a Financial Aid Night

NASFAA Guide to Financial Aid Night
Parents Letter on How to Prepare
College Goal Sunday

When and where are you planning your Financial Aid Night?

The Oklahoma state students financial aid deadline is April 15, 2010.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!! Last year we had 100 post on the Tech Prep Blog and I hope that at least one of them was beneficial to you.

Last year, 5,800 people visited the Tech Prep Blog!! That is an increase of over 1,000 people from 2009! We had visitors from 49 states and 79 countries! That is pretty cool!!

There will be a lot of challenges in 2010 and I look forward to the opportunities that will be created. One thing is for sure, students in Oklahoma and around the county will benefit from Tech Prep becuase of what you do for them, and that is something to be celebrated!!


If you are just stopping by, you do not want to miss any of our post in 2010! Receive the Blog posting in your email and log on here Do you need to be "in the know" about CareerTech related news, get our Delicious feed here There is a lot of cool stuff happening with Oklahoma CareerTech, you can get the latest news fed directly to your inbox from newspapers all over the state here