The meeting was opened by Sarah Rowe following a dinner she provided to all in attendance. Mrs. Rowe addressed a CTE survey which had been provided to BCHS students to determine their interest in CTE courses. It also collected information on classes students would be interested in adding to the CTE curriculum. Forestry, small engine repair, video surveillance, welding, medical, vehicle body work and child care were among the areas of high interest. The survey will be used to plan CTE course of study. A focus on the areas our teachers are credentialed in and the opportunities in the community should be emphasized to increase class participation. Mrs. Rowe also introduced her plan to implement a requirement for all 8th graders to take the Keyboarding class available in CTE and the intent to implement a six to nine week rotation without Band for the Exploratory classes. The Department of Education (DOE) is questioning our efforts to increase our numbers of credentialed students. We plan to purchase workbooks in line with the credentialing tests. These will be provided to students and teachers in CTE to be better prepared for the content of the credentialing tests.
A vote for a student representative ended with a request that two student representatives be provided for the advisory committee. Names will be provided at the next meeting. Jeff Hicks formally thanked the community representative present for their interest and participation in the CTE advisory committee. Brenda Hite and Cara Major expressed their desire to continue their participation and involvement in our CTE program. They suggested they take more of a consulting role; that agenda planning should be provided from the school. Attention to the fact that community attendance has fallen and a need to focus more in this area was addressed. A community representative would provide the ability to make recommendations to the school board, board of supervisors, and other interested parties in the community. A vote for new leaders ended with Katie Keyser maintaining her role as secretary. A request for a Chair representative ended without a vote. The responsibilities of the chair include introducing new opportunities to CTE; someone with an objective view of CTE; focus on job opportunities available in the community parallel to what is offered in CTE; and a champion of CTE with school board, board of supervisors and community.
Additional discussion concerned the loss of a full time CTE Director. The loss of focus on CTE has resulted in dropped programs, missed grant opportunities, and a lack of focus on plan of study to help students take classes they can use in their intended future careers. With the implement of an increased focus on credentialing by DOE, more attention is needed to clarify the importance of attaining the credentialing opportunities available through CTE. These credentials provide students additional benefits when applying for jobs and colleges. There is a concern that credentialing will cause CTE to be assessed similarly to SOLs when CTE is more focused to hands-on is a concern for many instructors.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 with a planned focus on what we can do to strengthen our programs including credentialing workbooks, online sample tests and training outside of school. Our next meeting is scheduled for January 31, 5:30 to 6:30 with a snow date of February 2, 5:30 to 6:30. The planned agenda will include a school board report by Sarah Rowe, chair election, preparation for credential testing and an introduction of community representative from forestry and the medical field.