This week Agriculture Committee Chairmen Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Rep. K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, addressed more than 100 state FFA officers, urging them to advocate on behalf of agriculture and take advantage of the plentiful jobs within agriculture.
“Our country needs more people like you, who know where their food and fiber come from, the hard work it takes to get it from the farm to the store, and the value of the rural way of life,” Chairman Roberts said. “Your voice is important and deserves to be heard – not only in a few years after you finish college, but right now. Read More
For Katie Callahan and Kevin Ho, who both recently graduated from Exeter High School, their capstone project in Video Production at the Seacoast School of Technology (SST) helped to define their senior year. Enrolled in the Digital Media Arts program, Callahan and Ho spent 6 months filming the construction of two tiny homes, which were built by students in SST’s Building Construction Technologies program.
“They were building the homes for their senior project as part of the N.H. Lottery and NH Home Builders Association’s Tiny House competition,” said Ho. “They started in November of last year, which is when I started filming and Katie started to take pictures.”
Noting they started to produce their video in May, Ho said the final 6 weeks of their video project consisted of editing film and putting it together.
“We finished it a couple days before we graduated,” Callahan added with a laugh. “We cut it close.”
Upon completing the video, Ho said they showed the completed product to all the seniors in the Building Construction Technologies program. They also provided a copy of the video to each student in the program.
Expressing some disappointment that the homes were not completed—external factors made it impossible–Callahan said they were both excited at the feedback they received from the students who worked on the building project.
“They loved the video,” she said. “We had two students come in and preview it before we showed it to the class and they really liked it. It showed them all in a positive light and they were all so friendly to us during the filming process.”
In reflecting on their senior project, both Callahan and Ho expressed enthusiasm for their experience at SST.
“I value the skills I learned here at SST,” said Callahan. “We got the opportunity to be hands-on and creative in all of our projects.”
Ho added, “We learned the value of teamwork, self-motivation and time management…By creating the video, we had to create a schedule for ourselves and stick to it.”
Callahan said they were also supporting by an “amazing staff.”
“Our teacher encouraged us to be ourselves and incorporate that into our projects,” she said. “We were free to express concerns or questions we had. She was flexible with us.”
If given the chance to advise younger students, Ho said he would strongly advocate that they consider Career and Technical Schools in NH.
“You should definitely check them out,” he said. “They offer you opportunities you cannot get at a middle or high school. You learn about the world beyond high school and how you have to work and what’s required as an adult…The opportunity is free, too.”
Callahan agreed and said even if a course description remotely clicks with a student, he/she should jump at the chance. She said the social component is also a big factor.
“We met kids from 6 other school districts,” she said. “We have made so many friends here within each class. Each class has an organization, too, which is something to put on your resume. These organizations help build business, leadership and communication skills… These are the characteristics that separate you from other kids and other candidates when applying for jobs.”
As for their immediate future, Ho said he plans to attend Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY, while Callahan will attend Pace University in New York City. Both expressed nerves regarding college, but cited enthusiasm, too.
“It’s exciting,” Callahan noted. “I think we are ready.”
Presented by the National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCER) and Build Your Future (BYF), the 3rd Annual I BUILT THIS video contest is now open.
According to BYF’s Ashleigh Potuznik, the contest was designed to provide aspiring craft professionals and their instructors an opportunity to showcase “outstanding construction projects and designs.”
“We established it in 2015 to engage NCCER construction-related programs from secondary and postsecondary education institutes,” she said. “We have received videos from all over the U.S. with past winners located in Arkansas, Louisiana and Illinois.”
Noting submissions have increased each year since the inception of the contest, Potuznik said prize package offerings have been enhanced, too.
“This past year, the competition prizes ranges from Lowes’ gifts cards to a GoPro HERO camera,” she said.
Prizes for this year’s contest include the following:
1st Place Prize Pack
Secondary & Postsecondary
GoPro Hero5 Black + Accessory Kit
$250 Visa Gift Card
Build Your Future Swag Box
2nd Place Prize Pack
Secondary & Postsecondary
GoPro Hero5 Camera
$100 Visa Gift Card
Build Your Future Swag Box
While the contest is fun for both students and instructors, the purpose behind it speaks to a very real need in industry.
“With the need for 1.5 million craft professionals by 2019, we must focus on building the next generation of skilled workers,” noted Potuznik. “The construction industry is looking for bright, motivated professionals to help fill this skills gap. Classroom activities like these are a great way to inspire students to continue craft training.”
CONTEST RULES
• Entries must showcase projects that are relevant to the construction or maintenance industries.
• Entries must contain a 1-3 minute video overview of the entire project.
• Videos must also contain verbal responses to each of the following questions:
-What is your name, grade or year in school and what state are you from?
-What is your project?
-Why did you build it?
-Why do you enjoy construction and building?
• Proper safety practices must be demonstrated by all individuals in the video when applicable. (Ex: hard hats, safety glasses, ear protection, etc.)
• Video dialogue must be audible over machinery, background noise, etc.
• Videos must be uploaded to Vimeo.com or YouTube.com.
All videos must be submitted by Oct. 23, 2017 at 8 p.m. EDT.
“This group activity is a great way to incorporate team building, communication skills and technology in the classroom,” added Potuznik.
We have a full lineup of fantastic keynote speakers, informative and practical workshops, and a showing of the groundbreaking documentary film “Most Likely to Succeed” at the Red River Theater. Not only is this film a wonderful exploration of what education can be, but also it will be followed by a guided audience discussion about how the possibilities presented in the film can come alive in New Hampshire.
CTE Summer Conference 2017 will be a great way to connect with teachers who teach the same CTE program as you from all around the state! You can earn up to 18 hours towards recertification in two days! You can pick and choose workshops to:
round out your teaching chops,
design better performance assessments,
build a more supportive and engaged PAC,
establish more internships for your students at local businesses, and
While some in society still view Career and Technical Education with skepticism, students are using it as a springboard for success, including Salem High School Senior Amanda Maille who has punched her ticket to Harvard. She is also class Valedictorian and will make her speech at graduation on Friday, June 9, although she deflects any praise for her accomplishment.
“If anything, there are so many people who deserve it, too,” she said. “There are different qualities about people. Sometimes, grades aren’t the best representation for what people can do. There are so many people who deserve it, too. There are a lot of people who will do amazing things. They will do amazing things in their lives…Hopefully in my speech, I represent the class enough.”
As for her experience at the Salem High School Career & Technical Education Centerwhere she went completed two years in Health Science Technology, she said it helped her discover not only something she loves, but her future career.
“I started thinking about the health sciences and sciences in 7th grade, but I was unsure what to do as a career,” she said. “I was super stressed out about finding a career.”
Upon enrolling in the two-year Health Science Technology program beginning in her junior year, she said she began “a lot of career exploration.” Noting her first year covered medicine, anatomy and physiology among other thing in order to provide her with a base of knowledge, she said the past few months have been key for her. During this past semester, she said she was able to choose between three career paths—LNA, occupational or physical therapy, or EMT—and she chose the latter.
“You go to the Salem Fire Department every morning for class and you do clinical hours on the ambulance,” she said. “I was actually able to respond to calls with firefighters.”
Maille cited this past weekend as her most intense experience yet.
“We had a call and I was ventilating in the ambulance on someone—it was an incredible experience,” she said.
In looking ahead to her long-term future, she said she plans to become an emergency medical physician. Regarding her immediate future at Harvard, she said her major is Human Development and Regenerative Biology.
“I wanted something with life sciences and chemistry built into it with a lot of research, too—I enjoy research,” she said. “I’ll be doing research on a pre-med track.”
She also plans to be involved in the community while in college with the Volunteer EMS Services.
“I want to be involved in community service organizations—it will be a great experience,” she added.
Acknowledging the scope of her ambition is large and that the path to her dreams once seemed “daunting” when she was younger, Maille said CTE helped provide her with much-needed knowledge and inspiration.
“CTE is so much more than people think,” she said. “It gets you so involved in a career. It shows you what happens on a daily basis in the real world.”
For students or others still skeptical about CTE’s impact and value, Maille cited her own experience and that of other students.
“It helps you decide if you want to do this for rest of your life,” she explained. “I don’t know if I would choose this field if I did not have this experience. There is business, construction and other programs—everyone loves it.”
About the Salem High School Career & Technical Education Center
The Salem High School Career & Technical Education Center offers 13 Career and Technical Education Programs that lead to industry certifications, college credit, post-secondary placement, and employment. The emphasis of its programs is on both college and career readiness. Students learn technical and work-ready skills while integrating core academics. Many of the programs provide internship opportunities and project-based learning.
