CareerTech to host automotive industry panel discussion
Oklahoma CareerTech will host a virtual panel discussion on career opportunities in the state’s automotive industry at 2 p.m. May 27.
A panel of experts will discuss the wide range of career opportunities available in Oklahoma’s automotive industry -- from mechanics and technicians to sales and customer service -- and their earnings potential.
25 graduate from 2020-21 TechCENT$
Twenty-five Oklahoma technology center staff members recently graduated from TechCENT$, a professional development program designed to teach participants the requirements for managing school finances in legal, ethical and responsible ways.
TechCENT$, an annual program, usually includes visits to different technology centers and ODCTE offices in Stillwater, but because of COVID-19, this year’s program was conducted virtually.
Participants attended seven virtual sessions from February through May; topics included technology center funding, school law, CareerTech history and personnel issues. The participants shared their best practices and developed contacts and established relationships with other technology center staff members who will help provide them with resources in the future.
Read more about TechCENT$ on the CareerTech website.
Guymon ag teacher honored
Oklahoma News 9 named Guymon High School agricultural education teacher Zachary Ilbery its Teacher of the Day on May 17.
Ilbery is also the Guymon FFA adviser.
See more on the News 9 website.
Site consultant cites Oklahoma CareerTech as an asset
Workforce development is a key to recruiting industry, and Oklahoma CareerTech is an asset to the effort, a site consultant told the Greater Muskogee Manufacturers Alliance recently.
The Muskogee Phoenix quotes Chris Schwinden, senior vice president of Site Selection Group, as saying that CareerTech is one of “the best state-level workforce training programs in the country.” Among CareerTech’s strengths, he said, is its ability to work with employers to provide their employees the training they need.
Read more on the Muskogee Phoenix’s website.
CareerTech Champion: ShiAnne Farris -- Northwest Technology Center and HOSA
THEN: ShiAnne Farris didn’t choose between college and CareerTech -- she chose both. And that was just the beginning. Farris was a junior at Alva High School when she took the first step toward her career goal of becoming a doctor, enrolling in Northwest Technology Center’s health careers program. At Northwest Tech, she
- Learned baseline medical knowledge.
- Served as a state officer in HOSA, the CareerTech student organization associated with health careers.
- Networked with peers and gained valuable leadership skills
- Received numerous certifications, including certified nurse aide, certified medication aide and massage therapy.
After high school, Farris went to Northwestern Oklahoma State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing degree in 2013. But even that wasn’t her end goal. Far from it. A few years later, Farris returned to NWOSU to work on prerequisites for medical school. She was accepted to the Oklahoma State University School of Medicine in 2019 and expects to graduate in 2023. After that, Farris expects to have three or four years of hospital residency.
In addition to school, Farris has worked as a CNA, CMA, nurse and registration clerk at Share Medical Center and Alliance Health. She is on the rural medicine track and plans to return to Alva to practice medicine. With a stubbornness that became a fierce determination, according to her instructor at Northwest Tech, Farris has faced – and conquered – a series of tough challenges.
NOW: She drives three hours home to Alva on weekends to spend time with her 6-year-old daughter and 16-month-old son. As she works toward becoming a doctor of osteopathic medicine specializing in either emergency or family medicine, Farris said she schedules every second of her day -- her showers, study time and even the time she makes phone calls. Farris said she believes it is never too late to go after what you want.
“It’s okay to be stubborn. Never let anyone tell someone they can’t do something.”
ShiAnne Farris
medical student and mother
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.
Friends and good manners will carry you where money won’t go. -- Margaret Walker
