Science academies opened doors to careers (and romance) for recent CareerTech grads
What do sauerkraut and kombucha have to do with CareerTech? Both the holistic tea and the German cabbage dish involve fermentation, a process Ashley Powers said she learned about in the biomedical sciences program at Red River Technology Center in Duncan, Oklahoma 10 years ago.
Ashley enrolled at the technology center in high school. She wanted to become a doctor, but she was homeschooled and didn’t have access to the hands-on educational experiences that would be available at Red River.
At the tech center, she learned to make sauerkraut and kombucha, which she occasionally makes at home. But that science-based cooking lesson was just one of many life-changing benefits of the biomed program.
Flash forward nearly a decade, and Ashley Powers is now Dr. Ashley Watson. She is a resident physician at Capital Region Medical Center in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 2024, she hopes to complete her residency and receive her board certification.
She credits Red River for helping her reach her career goals, but she gives additional credit to HOSA, for introducing her to her future husband and medical colleague.
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
Tulsa Tech student, instructor share a history
A new Tulsa County sheriff’s deputy and a Tulsa Technology Center instructor met in class decades after a deadly shooting.
Their story, reported by KJRH in Tulsa, began when Michael Brown, then an officer in the Tulsa Police Department, had to notify the family after a man was shot and killed by police. The man’s daughter, in elementary school at the time, was among the first class to graduate from the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office’s new academy.
The new deputy, Aaliyah Sanchez, was a student of Brown’s at Tulsa Tech, where he is the senior instructor of the criminal justice program.
Read more about their story on the KJRH website.
Autry Tech student takes nontraditional path
An Autry Technology Center collision repair technology student says she entered the program because she enjoys taking things apart and putting back together better than they were, according to an article in the Enid News and Eagle.
She started at Autry in information technology, but switched to the collision repair technology midstream. She plans to graduate in May and says she’s happy where she is even though the career is not a traditional one for women.
Read more about her educational path on the Enid News and Eagle website.
Meridian Tech represented at Film Day at the Capitol
Meridian Technology Center’s First Capital Film Crew Institute attended the Film Day at the Capitol on Feb. 28 to highlight the positive impact of Oklahoma’s film industry.
The event connected film industry professionals with Oklahoma lawmakers. Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, has been a key supporter in the Oklahoma film industry and has authored legislation to further its growth.
Housed at Meridian’s South Campus in Guthrie, the First Capital Film Crew Institute provides training to support the state’s growing film industry. The institute seeks to address a skilled workforce gap to meet the Oklahoma’s growing film industry and has partnered with top talent to build the next generation of film crew workers.
To find out more about First Capital Film Crew Institute and see upcoming classes visit meridiantech.edu/firstcapital.
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.ctconversations.org/.
For news about Oklahoma’s CareerTech System, subscribe to CareerTech communications.
State Agency Assistance at a Glance
National Center for Research in Career and Technical Education
OK Career Guide Training Opportunities
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark. -- Michelangelo
