CareerTech awards $4.14 million in lottery grants, scholarships
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education has awarded more than $4.14 million in lottery funds.
CareerTech awarded 23 grants worth a total of $1,887,557.75 to 22 technology centers for the 2025-26 school year and 134 grants worth a total of $1,878,996.98 to K-12 school districts for the 2025-26 school year, along with 400 scholarships worth a total of $375,512.42 for the 2024-25 school year.
“These lottery-funded grants and scholarships are a powerful investment in Oklahoma’s future,” said Brent Haken, Oklahoma CareerTech state director. “By helping schools and tech centers update equipment and enhance learning opportunities, we’re ensuring students across the state have access to high-quality, hands-on training that prepares them for success in the workforce. This is one more way CareerTech is building a skilled talent pipeline for Oklahoma.”
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
Green Country grad takes storytelling journey through CareerTech
Long before he turned it into a business, Tyler Roberds was drawn to storytelling.
As a child, he asked for a black-and-white toy video camera for Christmas — one that recorded directly to VHS. He didn’t yet know that filmmaking could be a career. He just knew it was all he wanted to do.
“I’ve always liked to entertain,” Roberds said. “But as I got older, I found out what I really love is telling stories.”
Growing up in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Roberds was immersed in creativity early on. His mother, Julie Roberds, was the digital media instructor at Green Country Technology Center, and she often let him tinker with the classroom’s camera equipment and editing software after school. By the time he officially enrolled in the program, he already had a working knowledge of professional tools and techniques.
“Digital media was the only thing that made sense for me,” he said. “I was already doing video and design projects for fun, so getting into a program where I could do it for a grade — and with professional gear — was a no-brainer.”
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
Southmoore FCS students show cooking, business talents in food truck competition
Students in Southmoore High School culinary classes showed their cooking talents and abilities to develop businesses in an annual food truck competition.
The family and consumer sciences classes are part of the Oklahoma CareerTech program in Moore Public Schools. All of the students held Cleveland County food handler’s permits, which they earned in class earlier in the year.
They created menus, built food truck models, created production plans, calculated costs, made grocery lists, set prices and prepped and cooked the food before serving it to the judges.
Read more on the Southmoore High School website.
Francis Tuttle students get a look at Model A cars
The OKC Model A Restorers Group took five Ford Model A cars to students at Francis Tuttle Technology Center’s Rockwell Campus.
The automotive students put the vehicles up on lifts to get closer looks and talked to the owners about restoring the classic cars.
Read more on the Old Cars Weekly website.
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State Agency Assistance at a Glance
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
OK Career Guide Training Opportunities
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