Career Tech

The month of February has been Career & Technical Education month in Ohio and Vantage Career Center has been actively involved in promoting this celebration. Mrs. Gail Gillett has been instrumental in making sure our students have had the opportunity to celebrate this occasion but also to let all of them know they are truly appreciated. Just some of the awesome activities that the students have been offered for Career Month have been; free hot cocoa in the media center for a full day anytime throughout the day, free popcorn in the media center for another day, a free jeans day, a special assembly with former Ohio State star running back, Maurice Clarett, and tomorrow (Friday) all the students will have a free pancake breakfast waiting for them when they walk into school. I think we all owe Mrs Gillett a big thank you for all her hard work in putting this together. I am sure there have been other events that I missed and probably others that have helped her, but THANK YOU very much. It has really been appreciated and gone over well with the students.

So you may be wondering why all the celebration over Career Tech month. Career Tech Education prepares students with college and career ready skills to be successful in today's economy. Career Tech Education (CTE) programs are critical to keeping US's economy moving in the right direction. CTE  plays a critical role in educating America's future workforce and improving the US's economy. Did you know that by 2018, the US will need more than 4.7 million workers with post-secondary certificates and CTE is the way that is going to happen. It is a proven fact that America's economy and job growth depend on Career Tech Education.

Career Tech Education provides a hands-on, skills-based education for over 120,000 high school students as well as technical training to adult students through Ohio's Career Technical Centers. If you have watched the news lately, Governor Kasich has been focusing on CTE and he is absolutely correct in doing so. He realizes that today's employers want to see more than just a diploma; they demand a skilled, knowledgeable workforce. Here at Vantage, we will make every student career and college ready. It's not one or the other; it's both. The outdated stereotypes of "vocational education" are going by the wayside as parents and students alike are recognizing that job skills are essential in the modern economy. I hope all of you will take a minute to watch the following video called "I am Career Tech". It really is a great message on CTE.

There are so many great things going on here at Vantage Career Center that it would take me a couple more blogs to tell it all to you. For example, we recently had all our Jr. Health Tech students pass their State Tested Nursing Aide (STNA) license. We have several students working on their Welding "Pipe Certification" which is a real rarity for high school students. Like I said, this is only a very small sample of the excitement here at Vantage. In closing, I would also like to mention that we recently were written about in the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) on-line magazine. I have posted the article here and it is focused on Erica Sullivan in our Precision Machine program.

Well that is Career Tech and that is why we are so excited to celebrate it this month. I can also report that we just topped the 200 mark for 2015-2016 applications. WOW! This early in the registration process tells me that CTE is no longer a secret. The word is out.