Career Fairs Around The County
Chad Foster, entrepreneur and author of Teenagers Preparing for the Real World, once
said that “the best way to find out if a career is a good fit for you is to try it.” Chad did
not mean that one should work here or there for a year or two and then move on to the
next job. No, he was referring to thinking outside the box and using every opportunity
available to explore career options before a student begins investing money in post
secondary education.
What better person to help a student with career exploration opportunities and post
secondary training decisions than a Career Development Coordinator a.k.a. (CDC). This
year the Davidson county high school CDCs have been very busy coordinating career
exploration experiences from job shadowing, to internships , to hosting career fairs at
their schools.
Career Fairs provide the opportunity for students to talk to numerous employers at one
time and place, giving students a chance to learn more about specific industries, careers,
and organizations.
Congratulations to the following schools and CDC’s for their hard work and efforts in
providing a career fair opportunity for students this year: Lynn Scott-Ledford High;
Gina Moore-Davidson High; Gaye Shipton-West High; and Beth White-North High.
ISSUE 02 May 2015
Career Tech Times
A Newsletter for DCS Career and Technical Education
Davidson High/Valley Academy Davidson High/Valley Academy Ledford High
Ledford High West High
HHigh School Career Fairs P. 1
Spotlight on Agriculture P. 2
CTE-Just the Facts, Ma’am P. 3
Anger Management P. 4
this issue
West High
North High
North High
North High
Here Comes Peter Cottontail!
$5000 Grant Allows Agriculture Students to Extend
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Cathy Berrier, Agriculture Teacher at Ledford High School, and her students are in the rabbit business. With a $5000 grant
from NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, Ms. Berrier and her students constructed a barn to house, breed, and care for
rabbits as a continued fund raiser for the school’s agriculture program. Ms. Berrier says that “students love the hands on
application as they get to apply what they have learned in the classroom.” All the Animal Science level I and II students as
well as the Veterinary Assistant students have benefited from working with the rabbits. When asked why she chose to
work with rabbits, Ms. Berrier explained that rabbits are free from disease, relatively free of parasites, and are a model
animal for a classroom and lab setting. Students work hard to care for the rabbits from monitoring vital signs to feeding
(the grant provided a one year supply of feed) to cleaning waste from the cages which is then composted and used to make
raised planting beds for growing vegetables to be donated to the local food pantry. In moving forward with this project,
Ms. Berrier hopes to be totally sustainable and is working to secure another grant to provide solar panels for the barn
which would then provide electricity.
Central High Benefits From Grant
Elizabeth Ritch, Agriculture Teacher at Central High, and her
students are also benefiting from the generosity of the NC
Tobacco $5000 grant. Ms. Ritch has been using the grant money
to update the campus green house and the horticulture program.
She has also applied for and received another grant for $2499
through the National FFA association called The FOOD FOR ALL
grant. This money will be used for new side panels on the
greenhouse and also go toward the purchase of materials to build
raised beds. Because the grant focuses on healthy food options,
Ms. Ritch will be working with Jeannie Leonard through the DC
Cooperative Extension to hold a workshop for her students on
healthy food options. The students will also create brochures to
highlight this information for the community, as well as collect
donations for the Food Bank and the Back Pack program for
needy children.
Art With Purpose: Jenna Shaw,
Agriculture Teacher at West High, and her
students lend a creative hand at the
Habitat Restore by artfully decorating
doors for a fund
raising project for
Habitat for Humanity.
Something Fishy
is going on in the North Davidson High
Animal Science class. Teacher, Donna
Fulton, and her students are raising tropical fish. Students are
responsible for maintaining a habitat and caring for 5 types of
tropical fish in a 500 gallon tank. The experience is invaluable
and graduating seniors will get to take home a fish at the end
of the semester.
The Facts About CTE The facts are in! According to recent findings from the North Carolina Association for Career
and Technical Education, in 2014:
94.1% of North Carolina’s students graduated form high school when they completed a
4-credit CTE pathway (cluster) compared with 83.9% for all graduates statewide.
Over 526,263 students were enrolled in CTE classed in North Carolina.
Over 52,444 students participated in CTE Student Organizations.
Over 93% of CTE students showed a positive placement in further education and training,
military service, or work after high school.
Over 85% of North Carolina’s CTE students earned the North Carolina Career Readiness
Certificate (CRC) according to their WorkKeys assessment results.
In 2014, CTE students earned 115,005 industry-recognized credentials in varying areas from
Microsoft Office Specialist to Certified Nursing Assistant to Automotive Technology.
Thank you for the important part that you played in
making these facts, reality for CTE graduates of 2014
and Best Wishes to the Class of 2015!
We Want to Hear From You!
CTE Computer
Requirements
Staff, this is just a friendly reminder
that Windows updates must be done
weekly on all computers. Please:
-Log on as Administrator
-Thaw Deep Freeze if on applicable
-Click on start menu
-Click on all programs
-Select Windows Update
-Follow screen instructions (select
Express)
-Select install
-When installation is complete,
reboot your computer
-If using Deep Freeze, Freeze
computers
Save Money & Energy
Turn Monitors OFF
The county has asked that you
please take time to turn your
computer monitors off at the end of
each day and shut down your
computers each Friday at the end of
the work day. Teachers can get
students involved by having the last
class of the day to turn off the
monitors at their stations before
leaving the classroom. Your
assistance in this conservation
process is greatly appreciated.
Please let us know of any upcoming projects and
interesting classroom activities with which you and your
students are involved. We would love to include it in one
of the Career Tech Times issues. Call or e-mail Debbie
Sheppard or Kim Hayes.
Just the facts,
Ma’am!
Jack Webb—Source: bignoze.fr
Source: NC Association for Career & Tech Ed. Legislative Newsletter.
Issue 562, pg. 2
Professional Development
Classroom Management Techniques
The Biggest Mistake Teachers Make
“The absolutely biggest mistake that teachers
consistently make is this: they let students know that
the students have gotten to them emotionally, have
pushed their buttons. Students should never even
know that their teachers have buttons.”
-Todd Whitaker
Let’s face it, students are aggravating at times;
however, when you let students know that they have
“gotten to you emotionally”, they are now controlling
your emotions. As a teacher, you need to understand
that it is okay to let students know that you are
disappointed by their actions/behavior, and it is okay
to hold students accountable for their behavior. The
key is to hold them accountable in a “professional, not
emotional manner.”
Points To Ponder
1) If a flame is not fueled, it will soon burn out.
2) When a person loses his cool, losing your cool in
return will fuel his flame.
3) When a person loses his cool, NOT losing your cool
will cause his flame to eventually burn out.
4) While on the job, it is unprofessional to scream at
someone who is screaming at you, even if it is human
nature to want to scream back. Two screaming peo-
ple never solve any problems.
5) It is never productive or appropriate for you, a
professional, to lose control, no matter how out of
control a parent or student becomes.
6) As educators, you are sometimes confronted by
parents who have lost their composure. When this
happens they are looking to you to fuel their flame.
7) If you’re going to deal effectively with an out– of-
control person, you have to defuse her anger before
you can effectively address the cause of that anger.
Source: The Ten Minute Inservice by
Todd Whitaker & Annette Breaux
SUMMER CONFERNCE DATES AND INFORMATION
North Carolina’s 2015 Career and Technical Education Summer Conference will be
held July 12-16, 2015, at the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel at Four Seasons/Joseph S.
Koury Convention Center. Please check your e-mail for upcoming registration
information.
The Ike Kearney scholarship process is underway at your high school. Seniors who
are CTE completers may be contacting their CTE teachers to fill out reference
forms and CDCs may be contacting CTE teachers to serve on the scholarship
selection committee. Thank you for your cooperation in this process. As in the
past, Tammy Carhart would like to have your winner(s) information AT LEAST 2
WEEKS PRIOR TO YOUR SCHOOL’S AWARDS DAY IF NOT SOONER!
IKE KEARNEY SCHOLARSHIP PROCESS
As the semester begins to wind down and we begin to gear up for final exams,
please take a moment to remind your graduating seniors, to remember to fill out an
articulation application with DCCC if your course is one that gives articulated college
credit. Please see a CDC at your school for more information.
REMIND STUDENTS TO COMPLETE ARTICULATION APPLICATIONS
Upcoming Events
Career Tech Times Issue 02 May 2015
Career & Technical Education Dept.
Davidson County Schools
2065 East Holly Grove Road
Lexington, NC 27292
Phone: 336-242-5664
Website: http://tinyurl.com/q8cnhyf