Multiple Paths Lead to CTE

“How did your career path lead to career-technical education?” That’s one of the most interesting questions I discussed with my new ACTE Fellowship Mentor, Nicole Lord. Our backgrounds are similar; we didn’t start out in education, but somehow ended up on the same path.

Nicole is from Michigan and has a background in business management. I’m from Ohio (Go Buckeyes!) and started out in communications, but somehow we both ended up with careers in career-technical education. Nicole’s love of CTE and students started as a cheerleading coach. Although she enjoyed the business world, she felt she was making a real impact with students, and that’s what motivated her to pursue her career in education.

Growing up, my mother was a career-tech teacher, but I never imagined my career would lead to education. I started out working in communications, until something brought me back to wanting to work with students and helping them change their lives through education. Not only does career-tech prepare our students for careers, but also for the real world and being successful in their chosen career field and in life!

So do we regret that we started out on different paths than most educators? Nicole told me that if she had the opportunity, she would do it the same way again. Her background in business has helped her become a successful career-tech administrator. I have to agree. My background in communications has been invaluable in working with all of the career center and college partners I serve. Our various experiences have been invaluable to our careers and the students we serve daily.

As we look to our career-tech teachers and administrators for inspiration and new ideas, we must always ask ourselves what skills and training they bring in from their careers that can help us motivate and train our students and staff. Do they have an untapped skillset that could lead to a new professional development opportunity for staff, or a new project for our students? We sometimes only look at our coworkers and staff in their current role, but they may have more to share than we know!

 

Carrie Scheiderer
Region I
Central Ohio Technical College
Newark, OH