CareerTech revamps platform to connect students and businesses
Oklahoma CareerTech is upgrading its online platform that connects students and businesses.
CareerTech is working with the Oklahoma State Department of Education to upgrade Connect 2 Business, a component of OK Career Guide that allows students and adults to find career opportunities ranging from job shadowing to full-time employment. The revamped platform will be available to all Oklahoma school districts beginning Feb. 15.
Connect 2 Business can help Oklahoma businesses find workers and can help students and adults find internships, apprenticeships and part-time and full-time employment.
In addition, high school students can use the platform to fulfill part of an Individual Career Academic Planning graduation requirement. The Oklahoma State Department of Education launched the ICAP graduation requirement in 2019. As part of it, Oklahoma high school students must complete a service learning or work environment activity before graduation.
In many parts of the state, those opportunities can be hard to find, however, said Shawna Nord, counseling and career development manager at Oklahoma CareerTech. Connect 2 Business provides a bridge between education and business to help students locate those opportunities, she explained.
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website and watch a News on 6 report on the News on 6 website.
More Oklahoma students than ever are CTSO members
More than 100,000 Oklahoma students are developing career and leadership skills as members of Oklahoma CareerTech student organizations.
Oklahoma membership in CTSOs has hit an all-time high for the second year in a row. According to numbers collected earlier this month, 105,907 students are members of Business Professionals of America; DECA; Family, Career and Community Leaders of America; FFA; HOSA; SkillsUSA; and Technology Student Association.
“Career and technology student organizations change lives,” said Amy Warner, HOSA state adviser. “They are transformative communities that empower individuals to unlock their full potential, cultivate essential skills and forge lifelong connections, ultimately paving the way for success in both career and life.”
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
Autry Tech students qualify for regional competition
Five computerized machining students at Autry Technology Center have qualified for Project MFG’s 2024 Advanced Manufacturing Competition’s regional contest at Texas A&M University.
The five students -- Jonathon “Kyce” O’Donnell, Kaden Delancy, Kyle Venable, Micheal Silver and Bryson Koehn -- will compete in March for a spot in the national championship.
They qualified for the regional competition by fabricating projects based on provided drawings and materials. They were among the top 16 teams from more than 80 participating schools.
Read more on the Enid News and Eagle website.
CareerTech Champion: Kaden Wittig - Tulsa Technology Center and SkillsUSA
It makes sense that Kaden Wittig is a genius behind a video camera. The 19-year-old from Broken Arrow has had more than a decade to perfect his craft, shooting and editing his first home movie when he was 7 years old. In middle school, the film phenom placed second in a local junior history documentary competition. By the time he was 16, Wittig had produced an impressive collection of video projects.
Although his early video production skills were mostly self-taught, he knew he wanted more. The high school junior enrolled in a two-year television production program at Tulsa Technology Center. While he worked his first job at a pizza restaurant and attended both Broken Arrow High School and Tulsa Tech, he held a spot on the Director’s Honor Roll and in the National Technical Honor Society.
“Enrolling in a CareerTech program is great not only for learning new skills,” Wittig said, “but also for establishing a built-in network of people looking to work in the same industry as you. There are people I met in my program that I still collaborate with on film projects.”
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
Useful links
Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @okcareertech and find us on Facebook at OklahomaCareerTech and on Instagram at oklahomacareertech. Find our podcast at https://www.ctconversations.org/ and watch our biweekly news show and other videos on our YouTube channel.
For news about Oklahoma’s CareerTech System, subscribe to CareerTech communications.
State Agency Assistance at a Glance
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
OK Career Guide Training Opportunities
There are no environments where you’re only going to win, because life just isn’t like that. -- Bobby Orr
