Best Practices Rocks Austin
It has been named one of the “Best Places to Live,” one of the “Greenest Cities in America,” America’s top college town, and it bills itself as the “Live Music Capital of the World.” But in September, Austin, Texas, garnered another top distinction: Host of the 2009 ACTE/NCLA Best Practices Conference.
A record of more than 200 career and technical educators came to Austin ready to share great ideas, pick up best practices, hear from exceptional speakers and maybe catch some good music.
Following a reception sponsored by the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, the conference kicked off with an Opening Session that featured Vince Orza, dean of the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University. Orza spent the session talking about change and the need to escape old ideas. Through his humor and insight, he focused the audience on really pushing through and how anyone, including educators, can survive difficult economic realities. He said, “There is a big difference in being captain of a team trying not to lose and a team trying to win.”
In the concurrent sessions following Orza’s presentation, attendees heard about:
- cyber-security curriculum from an Oklahoma school
- a wonderful renewable-energy program on Cape Cod that features wind turbines, a solar-thermal hot water system and photovoltaic systems
- how to improve the soft skills of students to increase their marketability
- a Kentucky program that focuses on advancing high school students toward postsecondary success
At the luncheon, attendees heard from Colonel Robert Akam, who said that all you want to know about leadership can be learned from Gene Hackman movies. Specifically, Akam talked about “Hoosiers,” “Crimson Tide” and “The Replacements.” “Leaders are made,” said Akam. “There is a process, and anyone can be a leader if they are willing to learn.” Akam went on to outline the key things leaders do, which clearly translate into the classroom. Those include:
- provide vision
- prioritize risk
- embrace change
- accept responsibility
- act like a role model
Akam’s presentation was followed by Greg Couch, who is the embedded systems business development director for National Instruments. Couch discussed how National Instruments recruits employees and what educators need to know about the process. Couch said that his company recruits 80-85 percent of its employees right out of school “because we can shape them.” Couch went on to say that “the pace of change is so rapid that the ability to change has become a competitive advantage” for employees. The candidates who have great presentation skills and understand that engineering is now an interdisciplinary field are the ones who will succeed. This illustrates the need to not only give students great hands-on knowledge, but also the skills to work together, research and think in broader terms.
The day ended with a roundtable event that included 15 presentations that ranged from online learning to student retention to non-traditional programs. Attendees had the opportunity to sit in on three discussions during the hour-long event. Attendee comments included:
- “Wonderful information that could easily be adapted to other schools and situations.”
- “Made a great contact for future reference.”
- “Without a doubt one of the best and most enjoyable speakers I have ever heard, especially at a conference.”
The conference wrapped up the next day with a series of concurrent sessions and a wonderful lunch presentation by Stephen Douglas, who is a psychologist and speaker. Douglas regaled the audience with a variety of stories that all focused on avoiding “cactus rolling,” which is realizing something is not a good idea after you have done it. It was a great way to wrap up the conference.
For those looking to plan ahead, the 2010 ACTE/NCLA Best Practices conference will be held September 29-October 1 in Ohio. More details will be available soon.