Workforce Oklahoma Partners Conference
May 4-6, 2011    http://www.workforceok.org 
More than 400 Workforce Partners from across Oklahoma will come together for this three day conference to learn, share best practices, and network. Attendees will have access to instructive presentations and useful material to help them continue the building of Workforce Oklahoma.  Click Here to download the At-a-glance agenda, hotel information and registration form.

STEM Workshop
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Next month, CareerTech is sponsoring a Train the Trainer STEM Workshop presented by Celeste Baine that focuses on getting parents and girls interested in Engineering. There are still seats available for this workshop if you and/or some folks from your campus would like to attend. The workshop will be held at Great Plains Tech Center.  The registration fee is only $25 dollars per person. Click here to download the registration form and workshop information.  Seating is limited so get your registration in now if you would like to attend. 

Train-The-Trainer Workshop
Growing Your Own Engineers
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Great Plains Technology Center
Lawton, Oklahoma
Room 301
8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Oklahoma Counselors in Higher Education Spring Conference
May 13, 2011
Oklahoma Counselor in Higher Education have invited Career Tech Counselors and other student services staff to their Spring Conference.  Click here for more information and registration.  The conference will focus on legal and ethical issues for campus and student safety.   The conference is at the Nigh University Center at University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in Edmond, OK.

Pathways to Prosperity Podcast
Probably many of you have heard of the report- Pathways to Prosperity.  ACTE has a podcast interview with William Symonds, director of the Pathways to Prosperity Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  It is a 14 minute podcast where William talks about providing broader options to our young people, lack of career counseling available to our youth and the need for high quality CTE.  Hear it at: http://careertechtalk.podbean.com/

Dropping Out:
There was a post on the Career Tech Testing Blog that had a great graphic from another site on the cost of dropping out.  (For example, did you know that ½ of death row inmates are dropouts?)  Download the pdf graphic here. Let me know if you cannot access it or you need the jpg graphic. Weblink is: http://certificationmap.com/infographic-the-cost-of-dropping-out/

Oklahoma College Assistance Program
Oklahoma Guaranteed Student Loan program has changed its name to Oklahoma College Assistance Program (OCAP).  Check out their website at:http://www.ucango2.org/  You can sign up to receive your free copy of the UCanGo2 High School Counselor Kit. OCAP provides a complimentary copy, including a student workbook, instructor's guide, supplemental resources and a CD stocked with worksheets, games and tools, to every high school counselor to make it easier to help students plan, prepare and pay for college. Contact them at 405.234.4239, 866.443.7420 (toll-free) or UCanGo2@ocap.org to request your kit.

Suicide in America: Frequently Asked Questions
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has a website that gives a brief overview of some of the important information pertaining to suicide.  Among other things, it reminds us that Children and young people are at risk for suicide. Year after year, suicide remains one of the top three leading causes of death for young people ages 15 to 24. To see all information available at this website, go to
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-america/suicide-in-america-frequently-asked-questions.shtml
Source: Missouri Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education: Guidance Digest