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Director's Memo 2021-07-26

Monday, July 26, 2021

Moore Norman partners with Cleveland County to offer health and wellness classes

Moore Norman Technology Center has partnered with Cleveland County to provide health and wellness-related classes and activities to residents at The Well.

The Well, scheduled to open this fall, is intended to be a place where people can exercise, learn and shop to improve their health. MNTC will offer garden-to-table cooking classes, yoga and health classes and more.

Read more on MNTC’s website.

New member appointed to CareerTech board

Peter Dillingham, Enid, has been appointed to the State Board of Career and Technology Education.

He will fill the term of Jimmy Stallings, who resigned, and will represent the 3rd Congressional District. His term will expire April 1, 2024.

Dillingham is chairman of the board and manager of No Man’s Land Foods.

ICBS Show offers businesses help with government contracts

The 15th annual ICBS Show, which will be Aug. 17-18 in Norman, will offer advice and assistance to businesses seeking to find, compete on and perform work for federal, state and local government agencies.

The event offers sessions featuring experts in government procurement and matchmaking sessions to introduce businesses and government decision-makers. It is produced by Oklahoma PTAC, a program of Oklahoma CareerTech, and the Tribal Government Institute, a Native American procurement technical assistance program.

Learn more and register at the ICBS Show website.

CareerTech Champion: Desirae Woodward – ABE and Central Technology Center

THEN: A waitress and a single mom. Desirae Woodward had dropped out of high school as a sophomore, and waiting tables was all she had ever done. Irregular work hours forced her to miss many of her children’s activities, and her job didn’t provide health benefits.

Food service was her only marketable skill, and even though she enjoyed her job, Woodward wanted more. In 2019, she enrolled in the adult basic education program at Central Technology Center. Determined to build a career for herself, she received her HiSET high school equivalency diploma a year later.

“I wanted to set a good example for my kids,” she said.

At Central Tech, Woodward

  • Gained computer skills and became more familiar with technology.
  • Developed good study skills and habits, which improved her testing scores.
  • Learned how to create a resume, which helped her land a job.

“I also gained confidence in herself and what I am capable of,” she said.

Having a diploma opened up doors for Woodward.

“I was able to apply for jobs I couldn’t apply for without a diploma or a GED,” she said.

She used that diploma to get a job at Central Tech. She said she uses her new skills every day.

NOW: No longer a waitress. Woodward said she has a “normal” job with great hours, working as secretary and classroom aide for Central Tech’s truck driver training program. She answers and directs calls, inputs student and class information, prepares graduation materials and orients incoming students. She receives on-the-job training in Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint and Lumatech software.

Woodward’s new job offers health benefits, and she gets to spend more time with her kids.

“CareerTech changed my life,” she said, adding that now, she gets to do her part to improve the lives of others.

She’s not finished learning. Woodward said she wants to build on her current skills and learn “any new thing thrown my way.”

“I want to raise my kids and just be happy,” she said.

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 don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. -- George Bernard Shaw
Last Modified on May 15, 2023
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