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Director's Memo 2022-9-12

Monday, September 12, 2022

Work-based learning video contest opens

Oklahoma CareerTech is accepting entries for a work-based learning video contest.

The contest allows students in CareerTech work-based learning to show the benefits they receive. Students will write and produce their own videos and can win cash for their programs. The winning videos will be presented on Oklahoma CareerTech’s website and YouTube channel.

Students can compete in two categories: high-end edited videos of 3 to 4 minutes and social media-type videos of 2 to 3 minutes. Six videos will be selected in each category; high-end winning videos will earn programs $500, and social media-type winning videos will earn programs $250.

Each program may submit up to five videos, and a single program can have up to three winning videos. The submission deadline is Dec. 16.

For more information, visit the Oklahoma CareerTech website.

 

CareerTech Conversations talks about OkPTAC

Oklahoma CareerTech Conversations sat down recently with Carter Merkle, program manager for the Oklahoma Procurement Technical Assistance Center.

Oklahoma CareerTech administers OkPTAC, which provides marketing and technical assistance to state businesses interested in selling products and services to federal, state, local and tribal governments.

See the video on the Oklahoma CareerTech YouTube channel and learn more about OkPTAC on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.

 

CareerTech seeks literacy success stories

The Oklahoma CareerTech Adult Education and Family Literacy team is looking for AEFL success stories to share during National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week.

The team wants to share the stories across Oklahoma during AEFL Week, which will be Sept. 18-24. The week is intended to bring attention to the nearly 800 million adults worldwide who cannot read, write or perform simple math calculations. It is a time when individuals, organizations and countries throughout the world renew their efforts to promote literacy and demonstrate their commitment to providing education for all.

Send success stories to Connie Romans at ODCTE.

 

CareerTech Champion: Joseph Gordon - Moore Norman Technology Center

A love of computers runs in Joseph Gordon’s family. His father works in information technology, and Gordon took his first programming class in middle school. He was intrigued by how computers worked, but he wasn’t really enthralled with programming. A few years later, he toured Moore Norman Technology Center and was intrigued by the network and cloud administration course.

The 16-year-old high school junior enrolled at Moore Norman Tech and was already A+ certified early in his first semester. When school let out for the summer, he accepted an unpaid internship with Norman Public Schools to repair MacBooks. He continued the internship after school started, working for NPS early in the morning, driving to Moore Norman Technology Center for class, working his after-school job at Schlotzsky’s and then going home to study.

But that’s not all. While interning at NPS, he completed his CompTia Net+ certification. He learned a lot as an unpaid intern, but he told his instructor, Todd Hendrickson, “I’d like to make some money.”

Hendrickson agreed it was time for Gordon to start getting compensated for his talents. He helped Gordon get a job with the Addison Group, running cable and providing an Ethernet network for T-Mobile during his senior year of high school. Gordon started at $15 an hour, but after he updated his resume to include his latest certification, his salary was bumped to $17 an hour.

In March 2022, two months before Gordon’s high school graduation, Dell approached him about a VxRail network support team they were putting together. VxRail is an appliance that provides networking, computing and management capabilities. Hendrickson helped Gordon prepare for an interview, and the high school senior was offered one of the 14 open positions. Gordon will work from home and earn a starting salary of $69,000 a year, plus benefits.

“The young man is ecstatic, and his future is set,” Hendrickson said, “and he hasn’t even graduated high school yet!”

As a technical support engineer, Gordon will troubleshoot customer issues with Dell’s VxRail, but he will also use his skills for personal projects, including cabling his house.

“I’m setting up a personal website to document my journey,” he said, “so that anyone who goes through the same journey has a potential guide.”

 

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Never chase a lie. Let it alone, and it will run itself to death. -- Lyman Beecher
Last Modified on Sep 12, 2022
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