Oklahoma ACTE T&I President-Elect: Jeremiah Cook

I thought it would be great to talk with next year’s T&I President to find out what he has in store for the upcoming school year and what he hopes to focus on during his year as President.   He explained that a major goal of his, is to bring a conversation to the benefits of being involved in OKACTE and ACTE.  He wants members to understand the impact of being a proactive member of OKACTE and of ACTE and how important their advocacy really is.  He hopes to work with our Executive Director, Skye McNeil, to better highlight the benefits of being a member and encourage everyone to work together to increase these benefits.

Strength comes in numbers, and membership is so important in order to ensure the voice behind OKACTE and ACTE remains strong.  Mr. Cook believes that by demonstrating the value behind joining will help career and technical educators to be enticed to join, or if they are already members, to get more involved.

Problems to Address

In addition to expanding members understanding of OKACTE and ACTE, he hopes to begin a dialogue among members of Career Technology Centers throughout the state to address any issue they may have and work to address these issues.  It is important for us to understand that Career Technology Education is impactful for students, but not always perfect.  We need to communicate that it is okay to be imperfect and to try new things, we cannot be afraid of failure or innovation, and need to work together to enhance our system not only throughout the state, but also the nation.

Jeremiah Cook chose to run for a leadership position in OKACTE to help bring about change not only within his own division, but throughout the state as well.  I am excited to see what his leadership will bring as he begins to focus on these goals and communicate change in the T&I Division.