Blogs
Navigating the Process of Incorporating Personal Learning Plans
The 2014 Minnesota Legislature adopted language requiring Minnesota school districts to assist all students no later than grade nine to develop a Personal Learning Plan leading to a “smooth and successful transition to postsecondary education or employment.” Recognizing that many teaching profes...
My Career Pursuit
I am passionate about giving students an opportunity to learn about a career before they pursue it. Students need opportunities to see, feel, hear and touch a career. Opportunities such as field trips, job shadowing, internships and apprenticeships are instrumental to career investigation and explor...
Dear Mr. Benjamin – Non-Traditional Students in CTE and Stem
My name is Courtney Benjamin and I teach Automotive Technology to high school seniors at Broome-Tioga BOCES in Binghamton, NY. Some people reading my name and job title in text assume that I am a man; I get a lot of “Dear Mr. Benjamin” emails! I am indeed a woman and I have embrace...
College and Career Readiness
There are many aspects of my job that I truly enjoy. One is that I get to help adult students that are trying hard to better their positions in life. I frequently receive calls from potential students asking for assistance. The vast majority of them have either been recently laid off from their life...
It’s Hard to See the Picture When You’re In the Frame
It’s been said that Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player ever, never won a championship until Phil Jackson came along. Muhammad Ali was a raw fighter when Angelo Dundee entered the picture and made him into a world champion and arguably, the greatest fighter of all time. What both of the...
Most Things Worth Having Requires Hard Work
Just one in seven engineers are female, only 27% of all computer science jobs are held by women, and women have seen no employment growth in STEM jobs since 2000. ~ Forbes Magazine, 2014
Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (STEM) like most things worth having, is hard work....
Supporting Girls in STEM Careers!
Technology (STEM) are all around us. If you are reading this blog…that’s STEM, the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the food we eat, the life we what is all contingent upon a set of thinking. STEM is the ability to develop a set of thinking, reasoning, inferences, and predictions that is emb...
Life Choices Aside
Life choices aside, the following story shows how some students’ ingenuity knows no bounds.
Maria became pregnant at the beginning of her freshman year. She had recently joined the academy and was eager to begin her exposure to Architecture, but the dream of one day becoming a professional star...
Mountain Ridge High School Showcases Project Lead The Way Biomedical Sciences Program
Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona recently expanded its Project Lead the Way (PTLW) Certified Biomedical Sciences Program. This innovative program provides students with opportunities to experience real-world medical challenges before they graduate from high school. Working with...
The Maker Movement and Its Impact on CTE
“Make. Just make. This is the key. The world is a better place as a participatory sport. Being creative, the act of creating and making, is actually fundamental to what it means to be human.”
~ Maker-Movement Manifesto
This quote is one that always seems to resonate with my...