Webmaster's note:  The hydroponic greenhouse and the horticulture curriculum were supported by CTE Plan Implementation grants awarded to Southeast Island School District in FY13 and FY14.

From KRBD - Ketchikan FM Community Radio, by Emily Files, September 18, 2014

There are no restaurants in the approximately 500-person town of Thorne Bay on Prince of Wales Island. But that looks like it’s going to change.   Southeast Island School District, which serves Thorne Bay and several other rural schools, is buying a vacant restaurant from the city. They’re going to use food from school greenhouses and a bakery to provide fresh meals for residents and business experience for students.  It will be called the Thorne Bay Café.

The Southeast Island School District hired Susan Powell, a restaurant manager from Oregon, to take charge of the café. She listed some of the entree possibilities:

“Carnitas tacos, ‘cause we have the great tortillas from Coffman Cove. Maybe a taco salad, you know, some Mexican things. A barbeque pork sandwich. A Philly cheese steak or chicken cheese steak. A couple different kinds of soup every day ‘cause we’re going into winter.”

She’s still working on the menu. But she plans to use produce from four school greenhouses. And she’ll get bread and tortillas from a small bakery run by the Coffman Cove school.

“I think the main goal is to support the schools and promote their products and to have student involvement,” Powell said.

Megan Fitzpatrick is Thorne Bay’s 7th through 12th grade teacher. She said this restaurant is one more fruit to spring from the labor and success of the student-run greenhouse. The school district starting operating the hydroponic greenhouse in Thorne Bay in February.

To read the entire story, visit this link.

From the ACTE Online CTE Policy Watch Blog, September 19, 2014

Yesterday, Congress passed a stopgap continuing resolution (CR) to provide temporary funding for the federal government through December 11. The House passed the bill (319-108) on Wednesday, with the Senate following suit (78-22) a day later.  This CR will continue current funding levels for Perkins and other education programs until a long-term agreement for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 can be reached.

In July, the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations subcommittee released an FY 2015 funding bill that would increase the Perkins Basic State Grant to $1.123 billion (up from $1.118 billion in FY 2014)! However, neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives will be able to pass a Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill before the end of the fiscal year, so the short-term CR is necessary to keep the federal government running past September 30. 

Following the passage of the CR, Congress adjourned until November for the midterm elections. ACTE has called on Congress to complete its work on a full-year appropriations bill that includes an increase in Perkins funding. With so much uncertainty about the future of funding for CTE, this is an important time to reach out to your Members of Congress and let them know that investing in CTE can’t wait!

http://ctepolicywatch.typepad.com/blog/2014/09/congress-passes-short-term-funding-bill-for-perkins.html 

By Scarlett Wilson, Published September 21, 2014

So you’ve just finished year 11 and you’ve been thrown into the big wide world – which can be a pretty scary time to say the least. It can be difficult to decide what to do after you finish your GCSEs and it doesn’t help that there are some many options to choose from. But a pretty common question is; “Do I go to college or do an apprenticeship?”

This can be a stressful time, because you’ve got to try and make your mind up about what you actually want to do in life. It’s important to think carefully about your decision – you don’t want to be back to square one in six months because you’ve decided you don’t want to be an apprentice anymore. Remember that this this is your life so you’ve got to think carefully about what suits you!

We’ve come up with some pros and cons of choosing an apprenticeship over college. Hopefully this will help you make the right decision.

Read the entire article here. 

From the EED CTE Coordinators' Listserve,  September 15, 2014

EED is pleased to announce Curtis Clough has been hired as the new EED CTE Administrator.  Mr. Clough's educational background is exceptionally broad and eclectic, including Middle School/High School Teacher, Athletic Coach, Assistant Principal/Athletic Director, High School Principal, Rural School District Superintendent, and Online Student Instructor/Academic Chair at a Community College.   The combination of Curtis's classroom, school, district, and post-secondary CTE experiences have provided him with a truly holistic understanding of Career and Technical Education and make him a valuable addition to the EED CTE unit.  A passion for and direct involvement in Career and Technical Education has been a constant across Curtis's varied educational positions.  A few highlights of his CTE efforts include:  overseeing alignment of career and technical programs in higher education to national accreditation with the Practical Nursing and Welding programs receiving approval by national accrediting bodies, and Co-Chairing an initiative to partner K-12 and Higher Education with local business and industry to align educational expectations and career exploration with local workforce and economic development needs, including job shadowing and mentoring programs for high school juniors and seniors with various employers.
Curtis is in the process of moving with his wife from Ohio to Juneau and is anticipated to formally begin work October 1st.

EED is pleased to also welcome Sheila Box as an Education Specialist II to the CTE unit.  Sheila has been with the Department of Education & Early Development for 15 years, and has coordinated the Even Start, Comprehensive School Reform, and Supplemental Educational Services programs for the Department in the past, as well as working continuously with districts on their ESEA (Titles I, Migrant, IIA, and III) grants; providing technical assistance, approving, and monitoring expertise for these grants.  Sheila was instrumental in completing development of and providing training to districts for the GMS online protocol for ESEA grants that will be used more extensively for CTE grants in the future.  In addition, Sheila has been involved in school improvement processes with the department for many years, developing early forms of the school improvement plan, initiating the placement of coaches in schools and districts, and most recently providing technical assistance and guidance in the use of the STEPP continuous improvement platform.  She has served as liaison for up to 38 schools and 10 districts as they developed and institutionalized the continuous improvement process in their own sites, and looks forward to developing relationships with the professionals in the CTE community.  

Vocational education was once a staple of American schooling, preparing some kids for blue-collar futures while others were put on a path to college. Today the new mantra is “college for all.” But not everyone wants to go to college, and more than half of jobs don’t require a bachelor’s degree. Many experts say it’s time to bring back career and technical education.

This American RadioWorks documentary explores how vocational education is being reimagined.

http://www.americanradioworks.org/documentaries/ready-to-work/

(American RadioWorks® is the national documentary unit of American Public Media. ARW creates documentaries, series projects, podcasts and online content for the public radio system and the Internet.)

From the Association for Career and Technical Education

As the new school year begins, several major corporate foundations are offering grant opportunities that could bring additional resources to your CTE classroom. 

Read the entire article.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, co-chair of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, today introduced the Middle School Technical Education Program (Middle STEP) Act that would expose middle school students to CTE programs focused on career exploration. 
Read the entire article.

Please consider recognizing your colleagues through the annual Alaska ACTE awards. 

Awards will be recognized at the Alaska ACTE Professional Development Conference, October 20-22 in Anchorage. https://www.pdc-ak.com

Information on the Awards nomination process is detailed in this PDF document. 

Please share this information with other CTE colleagues!

Submit by email - nominations on or before September 30, 2014 to Awards Chair: Carin Smolin, 523-1877; email: carin.smolin@juneauschools.org

From the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman,  September 9, 2014
By Caitlin Skvorc

WASILLA — Students from Mat-Su Career and Technical High School have put Alaska on the global map with scientific research beyond their years.

Career and Tech students Lucas Arthur, Kailey Carlson, Joshua Hartman and Ariel Hasse were selected with four other teams from across the United States for the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Learning Expedition, a “worldwide hands-on primary and secondary school-based science and education program,” according to the organization’s website.

Read the entire article.

In a recent post from Liberty Street Economics, Jaison R. Abel and Richard Deitz show that  ". . . a good number of college graduates earn wages that are not materially different from those of the typical worker with just a high school diploma. This suggests that, at least from an economic perspective, college may not pay off for a significant number of people.  .  .   .   .   This means that the wages for a sizable share of college graduates below the 25th percentile are actually less than the wages earned by a typical worker with a high school diploma. "

Read the entire article here.

Twenty Alaska organizations, including some secondary and postsecondary programs, have been awarded grants under the Alaska Native Education program through the U.S. Department of Education.  Congratuations to the grantees!

1.       Bristol Bay Native Association
2.       Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc.
3.       University of Alaska Southeast
4.       University of Alaska Fairbanks
5.       Bering Strait School District
6.       Annette Island School District
7.       Kuspuk School District
8.       Nenana City School District
9.       Goldbelt Heritage Foundation
10.   Northwest Arctic Borough School District
11.   Chugach School District
12.   Sealaska Heritage Institute
13.   Southeast Island School District
14.   Arctic Slope Community Foundation, Inc.
15.   Saint Mary’s City School District
16.   Alaska Humanities Forum
17.   Lower Kuskokwim School District
18.   Alaska Native Heritage Center
19.   Yuut Elitanaurviat Inc.
20.   Sealaska Heritage Foundation

For a complete list and a brief description of each project, see the US Dep't of Education website at  http://www2.ed.gov/programs/alaskanative/2014awards.html 

The Alaska Career & Technical Education (CTE) plan seeks to “develop a CTE system for Alaskan learners that is inclusive, comprehensive and accessible” (Alaska CTE Plan, 2010). Educators, business and community partners are working together to implement this vision and create a CTE system in Alaska. Having common CTE definitions can assist in the conversations and work involved with the implementation.

Multiple stakeholders have contributed to the recommended CTE definitions for Alaska and now we are requesting additional feedback from secondary, postsecondary, business and industry stakeholders. Please consider spending 10 minutes to complete the CTE Common Definitions Survey. The data collected from this survey will be referenced in determining common CTE definitions for the State of Alaska or to determine if different definitions are needed. This survey is anonymous and although direct quotes may be used, they will not be attributed to a specific individual.

After analyzing the survey responses, we will post the CTE Definitions document on the CTE Plan website (www.alaskacteplan.com).

We would appreciate having your survey responses by September 19.. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Marcia Olson at (907) 269-3018 or marcia.olson@alaska.gov.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to CTE in Alaska!

CTE Action Team