Director’s Column: CareerTech building bridges in education
By definition, the word silo means to isolate. In education, a silo is a simple concept that keeps things compartmentalized.
By design, career and technical education exists to break down educational silos by building bridges and removing barriers between secondary schools, postsecondary schools and business and industry.
This is the tenet behind career and technical education, and it’s why Oklahoma CareerTech has nearly half a million enrollments each year through a network of 39 school districts, 29 technology centers, 17 skills centers and 32 Adult Education and Family Literacy providers. What’s more, most CareerTech programs offer connections between secondary and postsecondary courses.
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
OACC podcast features CareerTech director
Oklahoma CareerTech State Director Brent Haken was recently a guest on the Oklahoma Agricultural Cooperative Council podcast, “Cultivate.”
Haken discussed his first six months at the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education and how he got to his position.
Listen to the podcast on Spotify.
Oklahoma HOSA students bring home wins from International Leadership Conference
Oklahoma HOSA members took more than 250 members to the HOSA International Leadership Conference and brought home 31 medals and more than 70 top 10 finishes.
Oklahoma HOSA members received 12 gold medals, eight silver medals and 11 bronze medals and had 72 students place in the top 10 in 44 competitive events, including 16 first place finishers.
The Oklahoma chapters were also recognized for membership increase.
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
Oklahoma SkillsUSA students top the gold medal list
Thirty-one Oklahoma SkillsUSA students brought home gold medals from the 59th National Leadership and Skills Conference, putting the Oklahoma contingent in first place for gold medal recipients.
Oklahoma took 425 advisers and competitors to the conference in Atlanta, Georgia, where the state chapter was second in the nation for most medals, with 73 students bringing home gold, silver or bronze medals. Oklahoma placed first, second and third in the Career Safe video challenge.
“I feel that Oklahoma SkillsUSA represented the state of Oklahoma very well,” said Emily Goff, state SkillsUSA adviser with Oklahoma CareerTech. “To come in second in the medal count and first in the gold medal count nationally is an amazing accomplishment.”
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
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
From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life. -- Arthur Ashe
