Oct 12, 2017 | Article
For White Mountains Regional High School (WMRHS), the opportunity to transform its CTE program was about finding an open door after another one shut.
“A few years ago, we were up for sizable renovations, which would’ve expanded many of the CTE classrooms, but unfortunately both measures failed,” explained Rob Scott, CTE Director at WMRHS. “It really forced the district to take a look at all of our programs to figure out how to best optimize the resources we had.”
At the time, WMRHS had 18 CTE-related programs for 1,200 eligible students, a ratio far higher than at other schools. With Animal Science and Horticulture enrolling fewer than 10 students yearly, Scott and his colleagues set to work on reimagining the district’s CTE programs.
“We brought in folks from secondary schools and local community colleges, and that became the group that really helped us redesign our CTE,” he said.
Today, White Mountain offers six distinct areas of focus: Agricultural Science, Culinary, Hospitality, JROTC, Cybersecurity and Networking, and Welding. If everything goes according to plan, the school will launch its new Criminal Justice program in time for the 2018-19 school year.
White Mountain’s CTE overhaul is about more than just simple streamlining. By combining elements of core curricula with CTE, the school is helping students become more well-rounded and more attractive to prospective employers.
“One thing our programs do is get kids out into the community–and because of that, they’re becoming more and more sought after,” Scott said. “Our horticulture program was asked to develop a memorial garden at a local cemetery based entirely on the work these students had done on our own grounds. That kind of real-world experience is invaluable.”
A big part of WMRHS’s approach has been to work with the school’s core instructors to develop new and creative ways for students to learn competencies, including offering more extended learning opportunities (ELOs). If a student wants to become a police officer, for instance, the school can help arrange an internship at the local police department.
According to Scott, it is that kind of practical appeal that attracts students from more traditional pathways, including a few valedictorians, into the CTE fold.
Owing to that cross-curricula appeal, one of the school’s goals is for every graduating student to either enroll in postsecondary school or have some form of professional accreditation (ELOs included) by the year 2020.
“Even if they realize one or another path isn’t for them–as a high-school kid, that’s a valuable thing to learn,” he said. “Sometimes, finding out what you don’t want to do is just as crucial as discovering what you do want to do.”
One of the biggest changes in the world of CTE has been a shift in language from the outdated “vocational” to the more nuanced “Career and Technical Education.” With so many CTE programs tailor-made to meet industry demands, focusing in on a CTE track is not merely practical; rather, it is a foothold to a much more certain future.
According to Scott, dynamic CTe programs also help to break down decades-old walls of the literal and figurative sort.
“Five or 10 years ago, there was a clear divide between the academic side and the CTE side,” Scott explained. “There was this unfounded belief that these kids couldn’t do the work, that that’s where ‘those kids’ go. We’ve done a lot of work to really break that wall down.”
Oct 5, 2017 | Article
She has penned an opinion piece for the Hechinger Report, a renowned education journal. In May, the Christian Science Monitor profiled her program in a story titled, “Reinventing high school.”
However, for Karen Hannigan Machado, Principal at Manchester School of Technology (MST-HS)), helming one of New Hampshire’s most ambitious CTE programs—and one of its newest high schools—is less about media accolades and more about tangible accomplishments.
“I hope we can serve as a model, both nationally and here in New Hampshire,” Machado said. “Transformation isn’t easy, but we’ve been fortunate to have received support from our superintendent, the school board, the Mayor, and the community as a whole.”
For Machado, transformation means forging relationships with stakeholders and consultants—including area businesses—to develop a competency-based model rooted in 21st century tactics and technologies. More importantly for Machado, though, it means a deeper focus on the needs of individual students guided all by a simple mantra: As fast as you want, as slow as you need.
The Importance of Flexibility
Launched in 2012, MST-HS uses a competency-based evaluation system based on a scale of 1 to 4 in lieu of traditional letter grades. All students begin at level 1 (not yet proficient) before progressing through the course until proficiency is achieved. For students at MST, some of whom might have struggled in more traditional school settings, that kind of flexibility allows them to become more engaged in the curriculum.
To help illustrate her school’s unique approach, Machado tells the story of a Health Science student (and would-be senior) who had completed all of her credits except for one math and one elective.
“She came to us with her mother during the summer to propose being allowed to travel across the country with her mother, who trained employees for a month or so at a time in hospitals on high level imaging equipment,” she said. “This girl took a Virtual Learning Academy class online for math—for free—and used this training experience as an ELO [extended learning opportunity]. Who could top that for an experience in a health field?”
At MST-HS, practical experience is not merely a result of learning the material; rather, it is the learning itself.
“We have the unique opportunity to be able to attract students because of our CTE programs,” she said. “I think that puts us in a pretty unique position, given the demands of the economy–and I think our growth and success will reflect that.”
A Practical Matter
Unlike some districts where vocational programs are considered secondary to academic curricula, Manchester High School requires that all students have a goal to complete a CTE program. Through internships and dual enrollment at local colleges, students are given a leg up in their pursuit of a long-term career path—from nursing to policing and beyond.
In other words, the students are provided with the opportunity to explore the kinds of careers economists and other experts expect to be in high demand well into the future. They also develop practical skills alongside technical ones.
“I often use the example of the Pythagorean Theorem and how students often say, ‘When will I ever have to use that?’” explained Machado. “When a student comes to MST and uses it to calculate stairs or a roof for the house they’re building, it makes sense.”
Five years after first opening its doors, MST-HS celebrated its second graduation day this past June. While such scenes might be vindication for Machado and her colleagues, it does not change their focus.
“We want students to learn what makes sense to them and lead them further along in their career pursuit,” she said. “If a student is able to apply an experience that leads them to credits in something that they love, then why not?”
Sep 27, 2017 | Article
With a dynamic curriculum and growing public-private partnerships, the Portsmouth Career Technical Center is preparing its 280-plus student population for the challenges of a 21st century economy.
“Our goal has always been to give our students the experience and certifications they need in industries that will allow them to stay right here and home and make a really good living,” said Diane Canada, Career Technical Education Director. “When you look at which jobs are available, and which industries really need skilled workers, we’ve found a nice balance here in Portsmouth.”
Changing the dynamic
Launched in 1977, Portsmouth Career Technical Center’ s focus was largely vocational in focus and scope. Serving first as a culinary arts instructor, Canada saw the center grow to include courses in electronics, automotive, TV production, and even architecture.
While language at the federal level began to shift—from “vocational” to “career-technical”—Canada and her peers recognized even then where the real change was taking place.
“It was about letting people see and know that while we were still offering some traditional trades and programs, we were also getting into the new and developing industries in our state,” she said. “This remains a big motivator for us, which is to provide a workforce for our state while giving students the skills they need to prosper.”
When she took over as director 10 years ago, Portsmouth’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) was in a state of transition, as the school opted to add more business courses. Canada believes the move was instrumental in helping recalibrate the school’s CTE strategy.
“As in many high schools, a lot of our students have goals of majoring in business in college,” she explained. “This was an initiative that my former director had started and I felt it was important to continue it.”
With two full-time business teachers, Portsmouth High has launched a number of promising initiatives in recent years, including a two-year, state-sanctioned entrepreneurship program. Two classes, Accounting and Intro to Business, are offered as Running Start courses in conjunction with Great Bay Community College.
Though demand in construction has never been higher, Canada and her colleagues have completely reimagined their school’s approach to the trade, combining courses in architecture and construction to create a new program called Design-Build. According to her, the plan is for students to work side by side with industry experts on projects in and around the city.
“Our long-term vision is to have full-scale projects where students are designing and building as part of the class,” she said. “We’ll also have tradesmen from the community come in—plumbers, HVAC professionals, electricians, architects—and expose students to all aspects of that industry.”
With support from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the center launched a dedicated computer science program, which garnered assistance from Great Bay’s IT Department Chair, Meg Prescott, who provided the program with “a running start” by teaching GBCC courses at the high school for two years to build interest. This year, the CTC has a hired yet another computer science teacher who will continue to build the program.
CTE today at Portsmouth High School
Today, CTE curricula at the school brims with career-track potential: four computer science classes eligible for college credit; 13 credits offered through PHS’s teacher-training program; six business credits; and articulation opportunities at myriad schools throughout New Hampshire and Southern Maine.
“Portsmouth is a community where 80 percent of students go on to post-secondary institutions, so we’ve really needed to create niche programs that were unlike anything else in the state,” Canada said. “I think we’ve done that.”
For Canada, the goal of CTE is to stay ahead of the curve.
“The most exciting thing for us is when our students come back after their first year in college, or even during their first year, and tell us how prepared they were,” she said. “We’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish, but it’s also important to remind parents and students that these programs are available statewide and they’re getting better all the time.”
Aug 31, 2017 | Article
With employers across a variety of industries in the Granite State struggling to meet their hiring needs, Career and Technical Education (CTE) centers have become an increasingly important resource.
The capacity of CTE centers to develop the skilled workforce of tomorrow, however, has been significantly enhanced in the past two years through an innovative collaboration with the Sector Partnerships Initiative (SPI). An industry-driven statewide initiative to help businesses in targeted industries address workforce needs while helping workers prepare for—and advance in—their careers, SPI is initially focused on four industries: manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare, and information technology.
According to Phil Przybyszewski, Workforce Solutions Project Director, NH Sector Partnerships Initiative, each of the selected industry sectors are defined by several distinct characteristics and challenges:
Manufacturing
• 67,800 employees across 1,950 businesses (average = 35 employees)
• Relatively flat projected growth
• High churn rate caused by retirements; 30+% over age 55
• Strong hourly wage
• Top needs: CNC machinists, Machinery Mechanics, First Line Supervisors
Health Care
• 88,000 employees spread over 2,800 establishments (average = 31 employees)
• Growth projections 10% to 15% over the next five years
• Good wage rates at the top but quickly drop
• Top needs: Registered Nurses, LNA, MA
Technology
• 61,000 employees
• Grow rates approaching 12% over the next five years
• High hourly wage in the range of $37.00
• Top needs: Developers, Systems Analysts, User-Support Specialists
Hospitality
• 68,000 employees spread across 4,500 establishments (average = 15 employees)
• 70% of jobs are concentrated in food services and drinking establishments
• Younger workforce with 36% below age 25
• High turnover caused by lower wages and seasonal nature of employment
• Top needs: Better defined career pathways and training
“The SPI model is effective because it is problem rather than program oriented,” said Przybyszewski. “We are working with numerous partners to address real industry needs—no one needs to be working independently on their challenges.”
Nashua Technology Center
One of the ways in which SPI works is through dynamic collaborations either with industry leaders and/or CTE centers with scalable capacities. Led by Co-Director Marianne Dustin, Nashua Technology Center (NTC) represented a unique opportunity for SPI, which has helped to “rejuvenate” its Manufacturing program.
“It was hurting,” said Przybyszewski. “Enrollment was down, but there was enthusiasm around what was possible. There was potential.”
Noting SPI can assist CTE programs in several ways—funding or an infusion of new advisory board members, which took place in the NTC’s case represent two examples—he said its purpose is to better leverage existing capacities.
“This is a great example of tapping into SPI assets to make a difference,” he added. “Nashua had a great lab and great equipment—we adopted them as one of our initiatives within our manufacturing initiative.”
As for how SPI impacted NTC, Dustin noted their involvement helped create a meaningful pathway from Algebra into a career in Manufacturing.
“We are introducing AMPED, an Algebra curriculum that enables students to learn core concepts in Algebra through the lens of manufacturing processes, entrepreneurship and design,” she said.
In order to access the year-long curriculum, NTC sent an algebra instructor to a week-long conference in Colorado for training in implementation at the school. With the program launching this fall at full capacity with 36 students, Dustin said their relationship with SPI has helped them place an assortment of manufacturing and machining professionals as instructors.
“It’s a creative partnership that brings these professionals directly into the classroom,” she said. “Some programs have an Algebra and a Manufacturing instructor, but we can make this happen right now with just one instructor, which gives us some flexibility from a financial perspective. It is also a more effective way to teach students.”
As an example of the curriculum, she said it goes beyond the “Xs and Ys” generally associated with Algebra.
“Students will be presented with real-world problems where they will have the opportunity for hands-on learning,” she said. “Through the process of solving problems with real applications, the students will then back into the conceptual part of Algebra…Manufacturers are not working with X and Y. This program is a much more effective way to teach students skills and concepts at the same time.”
Looking ahead for SPI
According to Michael Power of the Office of Workforce Opportunity, NH Department of Business & Economic Affairs, SPI represents “a new way of doing business with the state’s employers.”
“Working with New Hampshire’s diverse industries by economic sectors is a more efficient and effective way of meeting the challenge of creating pipelines of employment opportunities for current and future workforce needs,” he said. “By involving employers in areas such as curriculum, career pathways and appropriate training, we can sustain and grow our workforce, our companies and our economy.”
Citing the partnership with NTC as one of several related projects supported by SPI, Przybyszewski said they are also beginning to look at a 5th sector in industry.
“We are in the exploratory stage of looking at Infrastructure,” he said. “This includes Construction, Broadband and Energy. We are completing our mapping of the assets associated with these sub sectors and will move to workforce planning next to identify key stakeholders to drive the initiative.”
To learn more about SPI, visit www.nhworks.org/Sector-Partnership-Initiative/Overview.
Aug 14, 2017 | Article
Earlier this year, the 27 Directors and Administrators of NH’s Career and Technical Centers (NHCTA) created a new position—executive director—for the NH Career and Technical Educators association (NHCTE).
Lasting several months, the search resulted in the hire of Christine Carr, a NH native who has helped more than 500 small technology businesses launch and grow through her work at the Canadian Consulate in Boston. She is also the Co-Founder of the Canadian Technology Accelerator in Boston, an incubator program that helps Canadian startups launch in the United States
“I am very passionate about growing new organizations and launching businesses,” she said. “I think a big reason behind my enthusiasm for this line of work was watching my parents establish and build a successful NH-based manufacturing business.”
Describing both her father and brother as “gifted machinists,” she said her deep respect and passion for technical expertise and craftsmanship is in her DNA.
“I think my background—both professionally and personally—helps provide me with some important initial insight into the task at hand. In regards to her role, she said her first order of business is to help launch, establish and grow NHCTE.
“NHCTE is a large career and technical community that consists of more than 10,000 students, parents and families as well as hundreds of teachers, employers and other supporters,” she said. “The potential behind this community is extensive.”
Mapping it out
In mapping out the CTE landscape around the state, Carr laid out a 4-step action plan. She said her first move is to meet with the directors at each of the state’s 27 CTE centers within the next 90 days.
“I want to meet with the directors in their own environments and learn about their networks, existing partnerships and their unique cultures,” she said.
She said her objective in meeting with individual directors is to get a sense not just for the commonalities that bind each center together, but what differentiates one from the other.
“I want to get past the quantifiable data—‘x’ number of students or programs—and get to the qualifying factors, the things that will capture the imaginations of those inside and outside the CTE community,” she said.
According to Carr, step two and three of her plan consists of highlighting what is unique about CTE and then demonstrating what has already been accomplished.
“CTE has been delivering for decades – it is proven and validated, happening right now,” she said. “People need to understand that and feel proud and excited about it…All stakeholders need to be engaged.””
Carr said her fourth step will build on—and take place at the same time as—the previous three steps.
“I call it ‘market momentum,’ which means we have the chance to capture this opportunity at this point in time right here in this moment,” she said. “Everything is aligned right now and that is a very rare occurrence for any organization—it is what attracted me to this position. My role is to catalyze each area of potential growth and encourage the community to take over. I believe this can happen here in NH with CTE.”
To contact Carr, email ccarr@nhcta.org.
Jul 27, 2017 | Article
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.”
