Close to 150 teachers, administrators and other professionals gathered at Rundlett Middle School in Concord for the first ever NH CTE Conference. Over the course of two days, participants attended workshops featuring topics such as PACE, postsecondary pathways, Depth of Knowledge and OSHA requirements. Justin Wells of Envision Learning Partners, Frank Edleblut, the NH Commissioner of Education, Paul Leather, the NH Deputy Commissioner of Education, Eric Feldborg, the State Director of Career & Technical Education, Steve Rothenberg, President of NH Career & Technical Administrators, and others took part in the keynote addresses. Everyone who attended is already looking forward to next year!
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.”
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.
