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Director's Memo 2021-01-19

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Oklahoma CareerTech part of effort to help nurses return to field faster

A change in an Oklahoma nurse refresher course could help supply more nurses at a time when they are critically needed.

The statewide nurse refresher course is part of a partnership between the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing and the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. Nine Oklahoma CareerTech technology centers offer the course for nurses who do not have an active license but want to return to practice.

Oklahoma’s critical nursing shortage worsened in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic increased the demand for nurses. Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who do not have active licenses to practice in Oklahoma must complete the refresher course before they return to the field -- or in some cases begin a nursing career. The course is designed for those who have left the field and for those who never took their board exams.

Read more about the effort on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.

You can also see an interview with Lara Morris, Oklahoma CareerTech health careers education state program manager, on the website of Tulsa’s KJRH-TV.

ODCTE employee and an Oklahoma FFA student named to Owassons to Watch list

The Tulsa World recently named Scott Nemecek, Oklahoma CareerTech agricultural education state program administrator and state FFA adviser, and Averee Murray, an Owasso FFA member, to its 2021 Owassons to Watch list.

Nemecek joined the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education in 2020. He previously taught agricultural education and was the FFA adviser in both Owasso and Perry public schools.

Murray is one of 97 Oklahoma high school students named to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister’s 2021 Student Advisory Council. She has served as secretary of the Owasso FFA chapter, participated in the 2020 Oklahoma FFA Officer Leadership Training Conference and was selected to serve on the 2020-21 Oklahoma Agriculture Youth Council.

Read more on the Tulsa World website.

Tri County Tech superintendent receives Baldrige award

Tri County Technology Center Superintendent and CEO Lindel Fields has received the 2021 Baldrige Foundation Award for Leadership Excellence.

Fields is the only Oklahoma recipient to receive the award, which recognizes leaders who are mentoring leaders in successfully driving efficiency and responsiveness of an organization.

Oklahoma adult education program named national finalist

Oklahoma City Community College’s adult basic education program has been chosen as a finalist for the U.S. Department of Education’s Rethink Adult Ed Challenge, a $750,000 competition to advance pre-apprenticeships.

OCCC receives funding from the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education for both adult basic education and English literacy and civics education. Oklahoma CareerTech has administered the state’s adult basic education programs since 2014, when the state Legislature moved the Adult Education-Lifelong Learning grant from the State Department of Education to ODCTE.

OCCC will now have access to materials to develop a detailed program proposal before a panel selects the winner and runners-up.

Moore Norman Tech team is a finalist in the NASA App Development Challenge

A Moore Norman Technology Center programming team is one of 10 teams from across the United States chosen to attend the NASA App Development Challenge Culminating Event Experience.

The two-day virtual event will be in February.

The team, composed of students from Norman, Norman North and Moore high schools will present its app to NASA leadership during the event and have the chance to meet with industry leaders.

Read more about it on MNTC’s website.

Useful links

Follow us on Twitter at @okcareertech and find us on Facebook at OklahomaCareerTech and on Instagram at oklahomacareertech and read our blog, Oklahoma CareerTech Delivers. Find our podcast at https://www.cthorizon.org/.

For news about Oklahoma’s CareerTech System, subscribe to CareerTech communications.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. -- Martin Luther King Jr.
Last Modified on May 15, 2023
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