2012 CTE Month^TM

It's CTE Month^TM 2012 in February! Celebrate with the 2012 theme, CTE: Careers Through Education. Congratulations to the creator of the 2012 CTE Month logo, student Hannah Stover!

2012 CTE Month Logo 

Download logo—please complete this form about your usage of the 2012 CTE Month logo and return it to Online Communications Manager Jon Miller.
Logo use & restriction agreement   

How can you show your support for CTE?  

• Play the ACTE CTE Month Challenge and win!
• Tell your CTE stories through traditional media with our press kit starter and sample press release
• Spread the word on social networks all month and especially during CTE Social Media Advocacy Day on Feb. 23
• Show our student-produced video PSAs 
• Tell us about your 2012 CTE Month national and local events 
• Involve legislators and businesses 
• Purchase promotional items that showcase the 2012 CTE Month logo

ACTE CTE Month^TM Challenge
ACTE has partnered up with KP Education Systems, leaders in mobile education technology, to create a new and exciting way to engage in online learning about ACTE and CTE.  Learn through this fun and interactive tool while you compete with other educators around the country and between ACTE Regions.

There are three simple steps to play:

1. Create an account on http://ctemonth.kpcompass.com.
2. After you have created the account, type in your ACTE Region code to have your results tallied with your Region. For instance, type in course code field ACTER1 for Region I, ACTER2 for Region II, etc.
3. Go to the CTE Month Knowledge Challenge.
4. Review the content and then test yourself!

It’s a fun and engaging way for you to learn about CTE during CTE Month and possibly win! Those players who rank nationally in the top 3 at the end of the month will each receive free registration to their choice of either the 2012 or 2013 National Policy Seminar; the players finishing fourth and fifth will each receive a $25 Home Depot gift card, courtesy of KP Education Systems.

You can play between Feb. 1 through Feb. 29.

Major CTE Month^TM Events 

• Job Shadowing
• CTSO Events and Activities
• Social Media Advocacy Day 
• National Entrepreneurship Week 

Plan Your Own CTE Month^TMEvents
There are a variety of events that you can plan for the month of February: career fairs, press conferences, competitions and more! See examples from your colleagues below and re-watch our our Planning and Promoting CTE Month Webinar (ACTE members only):

• CTE Month 2010 Observances 
• CTE Month 2009 Observances 
• CTE Month 2007 Observances 
• CTE Month 2006 Observances 
• CTE Month 2005 Observances 
• CTE Month 2004 Observances 

If you are hosting your own event or participate in an event described above, such as Job Shadow Day, please send pictures and information about your experience to Ashley Parker.

Need planning tips? Members can re-watch .

CTE Month^TM Internet Advocacy
Throughout CTE Month in February and especially on Feb. 23, CTE Social Media Advocacy Day, ACTE will be turning to current and former CTE students, teachers, administrators, CTSO leaders, business owners and anyone who cares about education that prepares our youth and adults for the future workforce to share their experiences with CTE on the Internet.

There are several ways to communicate your story:

• Twitter: Share your story in 140 characters or less, and be sure to include hashtag #careerteched. Direct to your legislator by adding @ and your legislator's handle before your message; for example, "@Barack_Obama Perkins funding critical to workforce, edu & preparing students to be college & career ready. Restore funding! #careerteched"
• Facebook: Write your story on your legislator's Facebook wall. You can also post it on the ACTE Facebook wall or post on your own wall/status.
• Blog: Share your experiences on your blog and send us the link.
• Video: Post a video to SchoolTube and send us the link.

Get sample tweets, sample Facebook messages and blog ideas to spark your creativity on February 23 and all month!

We'll share your contributions on the Web, through social networks and with legislators to make the case for CTE.

Reaching out to Traditional Media
Contact local television reporters and radio stations. Ask them to air stories in February and beyond about career and technical education. Invite them to cover any events such as proclamation signings, press conferences or career fairs.

CTE Month Media Outreach Downloadable Materials   

CTE Month Sample Press Release
Use this release template to craft a press release detailing what your school, program, or district is doing during CTE Month that you can send out to local media contacts. You can also utilize the CTE Month logos and your school’s logo in the letterhead of the press release. Another great way to publicize your CTE Month plans via media outreach is the newest interactive social media releases. PitchEngine allows you to create free social media releases, which are embedded with photos, video, pre-made tweets about your events or celebrations. An example of a social media release can be found here.  

CTE Month Press Kit Starter
Does your program have a press kit? This is a great tool to have on hand when VIPs (media, policymakers, state leadership, etc.) attend an event or visit your program to provide them with quick, easily available facts and figures about your program and the impact you are making in your community!  It should contain basic information about your program, a tip sheet or some facts about CTE, a news release for an event if relevant, and a business card for the media contact or public outreach contact at your program or school. A press kit looks best when displayed in a pocket folder. You can make this as fancy or as basic as your imagination, interest and budget allows; folders can be printed with your programs logo, or you can simply affix a easily printable packing label to indicate the packet is “Acorn High Career and Technical Education Programs Press Kit”, for example. If you purchased CTE Month materials such as pens or notepads, include those in the press kit or hand them out with the kit at your CTE Month events. Below are some materials you can download to start your kit.

What is Career & Technical Education? 

CTE Month Press Release 

Facts about CTE (research information tip sheet) 

Your CTE State Profile 

Learn more about getting publicity for your program.

Reaching out to Legislators
Encourage your elected representatives, including mayors, city managers, county executives and state governors to designate February as CTE Month in your community. Use this sample proclamation. The proclamation-signing ceremony can also serve as a photo opportunity for your school.

Learn more about establishing relationships with policymakers.

Reaching out to Businesses
Here are just a couple of tips to get you started on working with businesses:

• Host a career fair featuring local business partners and the programs they support.
• Make a video profiling successful alumni and where they work.
• Ask shopping mall management to sponsor a career fair, make room for an exhibit or provide space for a “questions and answers about career and technical education” table or booth.
• Encourage local merchants to announce the date and theme on their marquees, in-store broadcast systems, electronic signs and cash register receipts.

Other CTE Month^TM Activities
Use a special message promoting CTE Month when you answer your telephones.

Hold a “CTE Month Call-in Hotline.” If you are a member of a local or state education organization, ask your colleagues if they would be interested in staffing a hotline and responding to specific questions from the public on education issues. If your colleagues agree, approach a local newspaper or TV station and ask them to sponsor the hotline by providing facilities and phone lines for your teachers. The newspaper or TV station can run stories in advance promoting the hotline to the public and offer on-the-spot or post coverage of the event. Organizing a hotline requires at least two months of planning, but it is a terrific way to reach a large audience.

Data to Make Your Case 

• CTE Fact Sheet 
• According to the BLS, employment in the information sector is expected to increase by 4 percent, adding 118,100 jobs by 2018. Data processing, hosting, and related services industry, which is expected to grow by 53 percent, includes establishments that provide Web and application hosting and streaming services. Internet publishing and broadcasting is expected to grow rapidly as it gains market share from newspapers and other more traditional media. Software publishing is projected to grow by 30 percent as organizations of all types continue to adopt the newest software products.
• According to the BLS, about 26 percent of all new jobs created in the U.S. economy will be in the healthcare and social assistance industry. This industry—which includes public and private hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities, and individual and family services—is expected to grow by 24 percent, or 4 million new jobs.
• According to the American Association of Community Colleges, community colleges enrolled 11.8 million students nationwide, about 45 percent of all U.S. undergraduates.
• According to the most recent data from IPEDS, enrollment in America’s community and technical colleges increased by more than 8 percent between fall 2008 and fall 2009 and expanded at even a higher rate among the much smaller for-profit, two-year sector (up 28 percent) and among the “less-than-two-year” institutions that offer primarily vocational certificate programs (up 12 percent).
• Nationwide, 59 percent of nurses and a majority of other new health care workers get educated at community colleges, along with about 80 percent of firefighters, law enforcement officers and emergency medical technicians.
• Five hottest community college programs: registered nursing, law enforcement, licensed practical nursing, radiology, computer technologies (from the Princeton Review guide to college majors).
• There are 14.4 million secondary and postsecondary career and technical education students in the U.S. Career and technical education is offered in middle school, high schools, two-year community and technical colleges and other postsecondary schools.
• Career and technical education has a wide range of careers including: entrepreneurship, automotive technician, architect, carpenter, nursing, dental, medical technicians, careers related to food and fiber production and agribusiness, culinary arts, management and life skills, marketing, technology, and engineering.
• Career and technical education prepares both youth and adults for a wide range of careers that may require varying levels of education—from high school to postsecondary certificates to two- and four-year college degrees.
• According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), almost all high school students take at least one CTE course, and one in four students take three or more courses in a single program area. One-third of college students are involved in CTE programs, and as many as 40 million adults engage in short-term postsecondary occupational training.
• According to the BLS, of the 20 fastest growing occupations, 10 require an associate’s degree or less. Furthermore, of the 20 occupations with the largest numbers of new jobs projected for 2018, 13 require on-the-job training or an associate’s degree.
• A person with a CTE-related associate degree or credential will earn an average of between $5,000 and $15,000 more a year than a person with a humanities or social sciences associate degree—and those with credentials in high-demand fields such as health care can average almost $20,000 more a year.
• CTE students are significantly more likely than their non-CTE counterparts to report that they developed problem-solving, project completion, research, math, college application, work-related, communication, time management, and critical thinking skills during high school.
• In order to fill the needs of their population, community colleges and CTE centers offer short-term and accelerated programs as well as flexible learning approaches that allow adults to learn the skills and knowledge necessary to be competitive in today’s global economy. Through these programs, adults can earn industry certifications, certificates or degrees.
• A recent study by production equipment providers Advanced Technology Services, in association with ACNelson, projects that 40 percent of the skilled industrial labor force will retire in the next five years, at an estimated cost of more than $100 million each to the largest U.S. and manufacturing firms.

 2012 CTE Month Logo Design Contest Winner
Hannah Stover is a senior at Advanced Technologies Academy (A-Tech), a computer-based magnet school in Las Vegas, and a student in the graphic design program. In A-Tech’s graphic design program, students are trained in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, and they learn how to create anything from logos to flyers to digital illustrations.

In the fall, Stover will attend Sheridan College in Ontario, a world-renowned college for their animation and illustration programs. Stover is passionate about fine arts, and she is planning to pursue a career in animation or concept art after graduation. Congratulations, Hannah!

2012 CTE Month^TM Student Video PSA Contest 

This fall, ACTE held its fifth annual video public service announcement contest for secondary and postsecondary CTE students. A panel of CTSO and marketing and media professionals judged the final entries and chose the following as the best representations of CTE and the 2012 theme, CTE: Careers Through Education.

The winning student or team will receive $750. The second-place student or team will receive $250. First- and second-place videos will be publicized on the Internet and may air on television!

First place: Sydnie Hinshaw and Cristian Melendez, North Shore Senior High School, Houston, Texas

Second place: Ashley Patrick, Corey Milyak, Madelyn Horrell and Lee Walls, Eastern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center, Latrobe, Pennsylvania

Watch these award-winning videos, then share online or purchase a DVD featuring both PSAs for $5 plus shipping.

CTE Month^TM Products 

To help in your celebration, ACTE offers you the opportunity to purchase promotional items that showcase the 2012 CTE Month logo, including pencils, pens, stickers, highlighters, balloons, sticky notes and mousepads that double as notepads.   

It has come to ACTE's attention that merchandise companies have been attempting to sell CTE Month branded material. ACTE has no affiliation with any company claiming to carry CTE Month material. The only place you can order official CTE Month material is through ACTE. Please support ACTE by using the official CTE Month logo and materials. If you have any questions, please contact ACTE at 800-826-9972 or acte@acteonline.org.