Canadian Valley NTHS students join voter registry campaign
Returning National Technical Honor Society members at Canadian Valley Technology Center’s Chickasha Campus have united in an effort to encourage classmates to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election.
Fifty-three honor society inductees recently pledged to Rock the Vote, a registry campaign that continues through the Oct. 9 voter registration deadline. Each of the students will speak to students enrolled in their full-time programs about the importance of registering and voting.
Members have been coached on the importance of remaining nonpartisan during the effort.
FFA chapters receive STEM grants from Devon Energy
Four Oklahoma FFA chapters received FFA Technology and Innovation Grants from Devon Energy.
Mulhall-Orlando, Woodward, Chandler and Wellston FFA chapters each received one of the grants, which were created to give students access to advanced tools used in the agriculture industry and to provide hands-on learning opportunities.
Mulhall-Orlando FFA will use the grant to buy a UV sanitizing equipment, and Woodward FFA will use it to buy a drip watering system for an on-site orchard, according to an aricle from KFOR.
CareerTech Champion: Samir Elneser – Metro Technology Centers and HOSA
THEN: A bachelor’s degree in business information systems guided him toward a career in marketing and retail, but when Samir Elneser was in his 40s, he was suddenly laid off and looking for a new job.
Elneser was born in the United States to immigrants from Colombia and Lebanon. The son of a doctor, he chose not to follow in his father’s footsteps. When the younger Elneser lost his job, however, his wife convinced him to reconsider the medical field. He took her advice, training as a nurse’s aide and going to work in a hospital. There he discovered he was more interested in the work being done by the radiologic technologists.
He found a full-time RT program at Metro Technology Centers. He joined HOSA, the CareerTech student organization affiliated with health careers education, winning gold medals at both state and international competitions. Elneser
- Found his lifelong profession at Metro Tech.
- Learned to take patient X-rays.
- Received the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists radiography certification.
“Taking X-rays requires creating a high level of patient comfort through proper positioning and communication,” he said. “I also interact and engage with many different patients in a typical day, and I enjoy that diversity.”
NOW: A radiologic technologist at Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center-Norman, OU Medicine and Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. Elneser finished the program with 15 classmates he considers close friends.
He said Metro Tech was invested in his success. Even when the program was challenging, Elneser said, he knew he had the support of his teachers.
“My teachers held me and my classmates accountable while instilling the confidence we needed to be the best.”
Samir Elneser, radiologic technologist
Technology center enrollment rises
A recent article in The Journal Record highlighted increasing enrollment in Oklahoma CareerTech’s technology centers.
Although short-term enrollments, which are often in programs created to meet local businesses’ needs, dropped when the pandemic closed businesses earlier this year, enrollments are going back up as those customized short-term training programs have resumed.
The technology centers’ flexibility also allowed them to continue teaching students the skills they need to succeed. The tech centers were able to move some classes online and plan hands-on training that allows students to stay at safe distances.
ODCTE employees donate blood
Twenty-four people donated blood Sept. 28 during an Oklahoma Blood Institute blood drive at Oklahoma CareerTech in Stillwater.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a blood shortage in part because many places that hosted blood drives have been closed, with students doing online work and employees teleworking. In addition, OBI is seeking donations of convalescent plasma from donors who have recovered from COVID-19 to treat seriously ill patients.
Each blood donation can save up to three lives, according to OBI.
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You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. -- Les Brown
