Director's Memo 2023-10-9

Ann Benson, Oklahoma CareerTech state director from 1999 to 2002, died early Sunday morning. She was 77.

Benson succeeded Roy Peters in 1999 as state director of what was then the Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education. She was the first woman to hold the position and oversaw the system’s change to the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.

She began her educational career teaching home economics in her hometown of Coyle and joined Oklahoma CareerTech as a curriculum specialist in 1973. While at CareerTech, she directed the Mid-America Vocational Curriculum Consortium, a multistate project to develop and distribute curricula, during its first 10 years. In 1985, she became assistant state director for educational services.

Oklahoma CareerTech is honoring the almost 80,000 Oklahomans and 7.7 million U.S. residents in the construction industry with Careers in Construction Month during October.

Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a proclamation declaring the October is Careers in Construction Month in Oklahoma.

CareerTech is seeking to narrow the construction industry skills gap with construction trades training and education at its 29 technology centers and at its skills centers. The system offers education in carpentry, masonry, HVAC, plumbing, electrical work, heavy equipment operation, cabinetmaking and computer-aided design and drafting.

Careers in Construction Month was founded by the National Center for Construction Education and Research and Build Your Future to increase public awareness and inspire the next generation of construction craft professionals.

For more information about CareerTech’s construction trades programs, go to CareerTech’s architecture and construction career cluster page or visit your local technology center.

Oklahoma CareerTech Conversations recently talked with Jerry Burnett, Skills Centers state superintendent.

The conversation focused on how CareerTech provides workforce training to incarcerated individuals, effectively giving them a second chance and a better quality of life as skilled tradespeople.