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.
On Thursday, May 11, more than 50 people attended an Art Show at Seacoast School of Technology (SST) in Exeter. Organized by seniors Alice “Doc” Rimkunas Nickerson and Kayleigh Lemire, who are in the Digital Media Arts program at SST, the show featured the work of students from all 12 programs offered at the school.
“We wanted to show off the entirety of what SST does,” said Doc, who noted the art gallery was originally just going to feature the creative work of students in the Digital Media Arts program.
“We thought it would benefit us and the school more if we had art from every department,” she added.
As for the kinds of work displayed at the show, Kayleigh said some were photos of people in engaged in their work in their respective programs. She said a student from the Welding Technologies program provided them with a sculpture that was welded together.
According to Doc, the more subtle intent behind broadening the work featured at the show was to put a spotlight on each program, some of whom are lesser known in the school and out in the community.
“There are some incredible programs here—this was a way to get people to learn more about them,” she said. “It also showed that everything could be art.”
In total, 50 individual pieces were displayed at the event at which food and drink were also provided. Kayleigh added that the Art Show also necessitated that they promote it.
“We created press statements and flyers and other things that we sent out,” she said. “We put it out there to SST and to the schools that send students here.”
Seacoast School of Technology serves high school students from Epping High School, Exeter High School, Newmarket High School, Raymond High School, Sanborn Regional High School, and Winnacunnet High School.
Noting they coordinated and planned the entire event as well, Doc said they successfully executed it due to dividing up the tasks between them. She said the event was not without its challenges, however.
“Some departments had less participation—it was a harder sell for them to send us pieces,” she said. “I’m happy that we were able to get every department to at least provide one piece.”
During the process of planning the event, Kayleigh created a documentary.
“I documented the whole thing—getting all the art pieces, organizing everything and showing the before and after at the show,” she said. “I also captured the gallery itself and the art.”
Noting she will attend Emerson College in the fall to study Film Production, Kayleigh summed up her experience at SST by expressing appreciation for what she learned there.
“Before I came here, I had no idea what I was going to do [for a career],” she said. “After taking these classes, I figured out that film-making is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
For Doc, who will attend the NH Institute of Art in the fall to study comic books, her experience at SST has provided tangible benefits that will pay immediate benefits.
“I know how to make things digitally on the computer and I have marketable skills,” she said. “I have certifications and the knowledge to get a job before I break into my career.”
As for what she would advise any student considering SST or any other Career and Technical Center in the state, Doc said it was the best decision she has made while in school.
“You learn so much practical knowledge,” she said. “You learn so much and have a good time doing it. You can go right into a job, too, and earn money while in school—it makes so much sense.”
On Friday, May 5, the Concord Regional Technical Center (CRTC) held its 6th Annual Hair Fashion Show & Competition at Concord High School. In total, 37 students competed with representation from Concord Regional Technical Center, Cheshire Career Center, Sugar River Valley Regional Tech and Nashua North.
The theme for this year’s event was A Day at the Zoo. “Students designed a hairstyle that depicted the animal of their choice,” said Kimberly Hannon, Cosmetology Instructor at Concord Regional Technical Center. “It was a great opportunity for students to push themselves out of their comfort zone and get creative.”
As for their animals of choice, she said students picked everything from a ram to a flamingo, tiger, and an elephant. Winners at this year’s competition were: Alyssa Fulton, Hope Hibbard, and Brittney Stevens (1st place) from Sugar River Valley Regional Tech; Olivia Goulet and Cleo Lee (2nd Place) from Nashua North: and Lily Laura from CRTC (3rd place).
“All the students were very creative,” she added. “We had some very talented kids. They were very attentive this year.”
In addition to students, there were several dozen people in attendance. She cited involvement from industry partners and sponsors as critical to the event’s continued success.
“The judges were from industry and the sponsors were great,” she said. “Paul Mitchel of Northern New England donated a lot this year, too.”
Noting she was pleased with the competition and show, she noted the day’s festivities underscore the strength of the cosmetology industry as a whole.
“Our industry never dies—it is always booming and always growing,” she said. “There is always something trendy happening. You have to stay in the now.”
For students who complete the Cosmetology Program at CRTC, Hannon said they have a leg up on peers who enter post-secondary schools without any prior experience.
“They will be familiar with the tools and terminology and more confident when they go,” she said.
Hannon said program graduates will also be further along on their career pathway, as they can earn more than 300 hours out of the 1,500 that is required in the licensure process.
“Our students have a higher success rate in completing post-secondary school, too,” she added. “They have the technical skills already. The terms may be different, but they understand the technical side already.”
In summing up the industry as a whole, she said many people on the outside continue to have misconceptions regarding it.
“Many people think that you can’t make a lot of money in this industry, which is not true,” she said. “There is plenty to be made in this industry unless you don’t work hard at what you do.”
She said another misconception is that people in the industry are not as smart as those in other industries.
“That’s not true,” she said. “You need a lot of people skills to succeed—they are essential. Some of the smartest, most talented and hardest working people I know are hairdressers and barbers…The industry demands a lot of people, but it gives back, too.”
The newly named United States Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, invited the Dover FFA Chapter to participate in a digital town hall. The group was one of 6 chapters from across the country invited to join a the discussion about the future of agriculture. Watch the conversation.
