Four Reasons Proving Why CTE Students Live the Good Life

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  1. We Learn from the Best

As CTE students, we have access to some of the most qualified instructors out there! Practically every CTE teacher has long history Cody Hayes Photo214lr
of industry experience and strong qualifications in the field that they are teaching. With the new push of experiential learning and real-world application in all classes, CTE educators prove once again that they are ahead of the game.

All of my teachers have integrated project-based and real-world learning opportunities into their curriculum (and have since the beginning). That’s what makes everything so interesting! Having the opportunity to take what we learn and apply it in a real world scenario is really beneficial, especially because we’re training for the workforce1.

  1. We’re Going to Make More Money

With the quality of education that our teachers are giving us, we’re definitely headed in the right direction for a strong and stable life. But let’s talk money… Statistically proven, a person with a CTE related degree earns between $4,000 and $19,000 more a year than someone with a humanities degree. Over a thirty-year period, that’s an additional $120,000 – $570,000 more2.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not opposed to a couple extra hundred-thousand in my lifetime!

  1. We’re Leaders in the Making

As CTE students, we have access to eleven different Career and Technical Student Organizations, each one specific to our content area. These organizations give us opportunities to attend awesome conferences, leadership training, rigorous competitions, and opportunities to serve our peers in officer roles on the local, state, regional, and national level.

With over 2 million student members combined, CTSOs bring together students and allow us to collaborate with each other on projects, express our competitive edge, apply the skills we’ve learned in the classroom, and make some great friends along the way3. In fact, some of my greatest memories and friends come from my time as an Arizona FCCLA State Officer!

  1. We Travel Across the Country

The conferences I mentioned earlier? Well, they take place in some of the coolest cities across the United States! So while everyone else is stuck working all day, us CTE students are off in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington DC expanding our network! While we do spend most of our days inside the conference center, we do get the occasional break to Disneyland, the White House, or the Empire State Building. It’s okay to be jealous.

My favorite conference to date was the FCCLA Capitol Leadership conference in Washington, DC. As a junior in high school I was able to meet my state’s elected officials and lobby for Career and Technical Education. It was such an eye-opening experience, and one that I will carry with me forever.

What’s Your CTE Experience?

 

References

1. Association for Career and Technical Education. "Career and Technical Student Organizations." Association for Career and Technical Education. http://www.ctsos.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/CTSOTrifoldNoMembership.pdf (accessed April 11, 2016).

2. —. What is CTE? https://www.acteonline.org/cte/#.VwsIlcfKlOE (accessed April 11, 2016).

3. Jacques, Catherine. What All Educators Can Learn From CTE Teachers. February 20, 2015. http://www.ccrscenter.org/products-resources/blog/what-all-educators-can-learn-cte-teachers (accessed April 11, 2016).

By Cody Hays, an Accelerated Bachelor/Masters in Career and Technical Education student at Northern Arizona University