Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Career Technical Education Update

By Michelle Vacante 
NHS Career Technical Education Counselor

The Career and Technical Education Center at Navasota High School has had a very eventful fall semester. This is the first year for the career center and seniors are taking full advantage of what it has to offer. In September, seniors were guided through the process of completing their Apply Texas applications for college. Beginning this process early in a student's senior year can provide advantages in the process; therefore, our students have been receiving acceptance letters from colleges earlier than in years past. To date, more than 65 high school seniors have received college acceptance letters, including Blinn Junior College, Lonestar College, North Texas, Texas State, Sam Houston, Angelino College, Baylor, Texas Tech, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, and Arizona State University. Our kids are going places!

Seniors have also been effectively using their lunchtime to come in and fill out scholarship applications, college applications, and search for information regarding their future endeavors. We have also seen an increase in juniors and seniors creating College Board accounts and signing up for the SAT and ACT tests.  We have also had a record number of students use this service earlier in the year as compared to years past.

Freshmen level students have had the opportunity to begin behavior and career interest inventories this year giving them a better understanding of what specific careers may suit their interests and personality. Through the EduSystems (Top Quest) online software, students answer a series of questions used in determining personality types of the student and identify jobs that relate to their personality. The next step for the freshman will be to begin the process of researching colleges, trade schools, and jobs that will help them be successful in the future, based on the information gathered from the initial inventory.  Sophomore level students will be next to complete this inventory and they will have the same opportunity to discover working fields that best suit them.

The Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) has also had the opportunity to begin working with the WIN Learning program.  Students have begun working with the Strategic Compass program to determine job related skills necessary for a field of choice and better understand where they can go to research and learn about those skills. These career readiness skills commonly referred to as attitudinal and behavioral skills, social skills, job search skills, and 21st Century skills. Through acquiring these skills in engaged learning environments and through personal learning, students will develop these necessary skills to be an effective member of the workforce. At the culmination of their high school career, students will have the opportunity to earn certificates to show prospective employers that they have the skills necessary to work successfully with others on the job.

Lastly, the CTE Center has also sponsored several parent/student workshops over financial aid, the college application process and how to prepare for the college process. These events have had large parental and student turnout and we look to provide more opportunities for our parents and students to prepare for life after graduation. Please be sure to visit the Career and Technical Education Counseling website on the High School webpage and look for scholarship postings and workshop information.

1 comment:

  1. A career and technology based education will help your child to be more than just an average student. Career and technology education can give your child what’s needed to succeed for life: technical skills, academic skills and employability skills. In addition, career and technical education helps students see how what they’re learning applies to the needs of employers. Career Technical Education (CTE) provides students of all ages with the academic and technical skills, knowledge and training necessary to succeed in future careers and to become lifelong learners. In total, about 12.5 million high school and college students are enrolled in CTE across the nation. If you need any kind of help then you may contact with Mr. Al Rogers. Al Rogers received his doctorate degree at the University of the Pacific and had a long career in education.

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