Techniques Year in Review
As the year 2018 draws to a close we’re taking a look back at the articles in Techniques that made us think, helped us learn, and inspired pride in our profession as career and technical educators. Helping “Young Minds Take Flight” and “Filling the Educator Pipeline,” Techniques addresses the issues ACTE members care about most, providing input you can trust when making decisions for your classrooms, programs and school systems — in print and on the web.
- Russell Peterman wrote about his personal experience to follow a passion and how he has leveraged that passion to help “Young Minds Take Flight” in the January 2018 issue of Techniques.“Dan Weyant, a high school engineering teacher for Georgetown Independent School District, contacted me with an idea: He wanted, and had obtained approval to start an engineering class, to build a flying airplane in the school’s new CTE lab. If only I had had that opportunity when I was young!”
- In February 2018, Ozarks Technical Community College went “Up, Up and Away! Using Comic Books for Program Promotion,” encouraging excitement and engaging students through career and technical education.“Once considered juvenile, the medium [comic books] is now considered mainstream, acceptable entertainment. As a self-proclaimed comic book evangelist, [Techniques contributor Craig W. Schutt] pronounced the once-beleaguered funny book an effective and engaging tool for instruction and promotion.”
- Patrick Cain, assistant superintendent for Enterprise City Schools in Enterprise, Alabama, understands that to educate the workforce of tomorrow, we must begin today. “WeeCat Industries: Educating the Future” appeared in Techniques in March 2018.“The heart and true success of any CTE program lies in its ability to prepare students for success. In Enterprise City Schools, in southeast Alabama, leadership, teamwork, critical thinking and positive work ethic transformed the instructional framework of WeeCats Preschool into the emerging WeeCat Industries.”
- With an eye toward the future, the April 2018 issue of Techniques gave readers an inside look at the work that must be done: “Building America’s Skilled Technical Workforce.”“In response to the broader need for policy information on this important issue, an expert committee convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine prepared a study outlining the structure, scope, challenges and opportunities for building a more agile and skilled technical workforce.”
- CTE spells success! Most especially, perhaps, in the May 2018 issue of Techniques themed “CTE Success Stories.” One such story, of Zachary Flowers’ “Survival on the Horizon,” you should hear from the source:“How does one become a successful teacher? Are they born into it? Do they happen to take the right classes and get lucky? Does it take a lot of work, dedication and continued education? These are all questions I, Zachary Flowers, have asked myself more than once… The only thing I know at this point is that meeting and learning from others in my field can only help me.”
Summer break was a breath of fresh air. Techniques took a brief hiatus and we launched our PAGES blog to offer expanded opportunities for engagement and even more stories of CTE success.
- With the start of each new school year, Techniques arrives again at VISION. (Did you catch our word play on the September 2018 cover?) Inside, CTE professionals provide a glimpse of the value to be found at ACTE’s CareerTech VISION.Osceola Technical College Principal Thomas Ott wrote on “Transformational Leadership in the First and Second Year” (& gave a presentation of the same name at VISION 2018), “There are many ways to change the trajectory of an organization. The most effective depend on what that institution needs and if leadership is willing to listen and be flexible when it comes to implementing change.”
- Technology is ubiquitous. And CTE educators everywhere are leveraging technology and its concepts to reach students where they are: online. One such educator, a computer science instructor in Georgia, wants readers of Techniques in October 2018 to know you can “Run Your Classroom Like a Software Development Incubator.”“Where Agile programming teams work to solve problems by developing software for clients, this is not a software development company in Silicon Valley. It’s my classroom. Excited teams gather at programming tables around the room, ready to engage in student-led development meetings, taking on projects that build practical applicability.”
- And, finally, we have come to the end of the year with Techniques‘ November/December issue. The CTE teacher shortage is an issue we all face — not only for the future of our programs but in the development of a skilled workforce. Recruitment programs such as “iTeachU” at South Dakota State University build upon national and state efforts to fill the educator pipeline.“Statewide recruitment efforts are underway to recruit the next generation of CTE teachers in South Dakota… In addition to the traditional means of recruiting, SDSU implemented iTeachU in 2011. The one-day, annual event on campus is a join effort between the agricultural education and family and consumer sciences education faculty, and introduces participants to a career in teaching while simultaneously providing a glimpse into college life.