Big news! The Career and Academic Connections Division (formerly Guidance Division) will have two new employees come June 2. Kahle Goff, formerly of Gordon Cooper will be our new Disability Services Specialist. Tommi Leach, formerly of Hydro-Eakly, will be our Career and Academic Advisement Specialist-which is a brand new position. We are eagerly awaiting their arrival.
The McCrabb Scholarship (download Application)
The McCrabb Scholarship honors Hugh McCrabb for his pioneering work in making the Career Readiness Certificate a reality in Oklahoma and helping to increase workplace skills for thousands of Oklahomans. The McCrabb Scholarship (sponsored by KeyTrain) will be awarded each year to an adult student who demonstrates Hugh McCrabb's enthusiasm for self-improvement through education. It will cover one full year's tuition at an Oklahoma CTE institution and any costs for testing and printing of an Oklahoma Career Readiness Certificate.
CareerTech Foundation
The Oklahoma Career Tech Foundation has established a web site:
http://www.okcareertech.org/foundation/. This site will contain information regarding the foundation. It also contains all the scholarship applications available through the Career Tech Foundation. Please e-mail this site to your staff and students as applications will no longer be automatically e-mailed to your sites. If you have questions, please contact Lisa Eden at (405) 743-5453 or by e-mail at
leden@okcareertech.org
(This was sent to KeyTrain coordinators so just an FYI for you.)
KeyTrain News: I have received calls/questions on KeyTrain and budgets for the next school year. I am happy to tell you that ODCTE is completing the paperwork for the funding for the statewide contract for KeyTrain for the school year 2008-09. This will provide all technology center and skill center campuses with the basic KeyTrain program that was provided last year. You'll recall that individual sites are responsible for the purchase of the Career Skills or Career Cluster programs if they so desire them. Let me know if you have questions.
Financial Literacy Partnership
CIMC is partnering with Shryk, LLC to respond to the training requirements in Oklahoma's
"Passport to Financial Literacy Act of 2007." The new Act identifies 14 required areas of instruction. The CIMC is producing a print curriculum that covers these areas. In addition, Shryk (
www.shryk.com) is developing an online banking software product that will teach
financial literacy as students make banking transactions. Shryk will make a free version of the software available to schools, which can set up student training accounts using play money as a training aid.
Here is the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics new program (COPNET) flyer with contact information for drug education training. THERE IS NO COST. The instructors are college students, retired officers, and retired teachers. The training course is set by what the schools or citizens groups want or need. If you need a trainer, contact the folks on the attached flyer.
Websites:
The website for America's Career Resource Network (ACRN) is operational once again after moving to a new hosting platform. The site contains extensive information that can help in career planning with students. To see the site, go to http://www.acrnetwork.org/
AbleTech Newsletter (download newsletter - .pdf format)
Here is the AbleTech Spring 2008 newsletter with information on web accessability, Oklahoma Able Tech Center locations, Summer camps for students with disabilities, spotlight on demo and loan programs and much more.
Workshops:
Workforce Oklahoma Partnership Conference- May 21-23 at Clarion Meridian Hotel and Convention Center, Oklahoma City. The ODCTE is one of several state agencies along with Native Tribes that have collectively organized a three day conference addressing common workforce best practices that can help students, customer, clients, etc. to become self sufficient in today workforce. Please go to www.workforceok.org to see detailed conference information.
Fall 2008 EPAS Professional Development Workshops
Professional development workshops for administrators, counselors and curriculum leaders will be held statewide in September Workshops will begin with registration and refreshmentsat 8 a.m., with presentations lasting from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Topics will include:
-Legislative and State Regents Update Relative to Student Preparation for College
-Strategic Planning Using EXPLOREand PLAN Data
-EXPLORE and PLAN Item Response Summary Reports
-A Six-Year College Planner for Each Student
-New Crosswalk Between EPAS Standards to PASS
-ACT's Update: Information for the Class of 2009 and Beyond
Early registration is encouraged as spaces are limited. Weblink for dates, locations, more information and online registration: http://okhighered.org/epas/epas-prof-dev.shtml
Career Cluster Institute
The annual Career Clusters Institute will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, June 16-18. By popular demand, this year's emphasis is on practical, useable information for implementing and using the Career Clusters framework. There is a new "strand" feature in the agenda, which will assist you in determining which sessions best fit your needs. Visit our website,
www.careerclusters.org, for information about registration, lodging, etc.
From Linda Emrich, Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Commerce for Workforce Development:
Manufacturing Summer Academics: K-12 Teacher/Counselor Summer Program:
OSU-Okmulgee/MAIP has scheduled four, two-day sessions for the summer of 2008 and is calling the program "All about Manufacturing". Through these four sessions, we have the capacity to serve up to eighty attendees.
We have industrial partners participating in the program who will provide their time in a panel discussion on the challenges they are facing with their workforce as well as an overview of their manufacturing operations. These partners will also provide tours of their facilities for the participants of this program. Contact information for the academies:
OSU-Okmulgee/MAIP
Scott Fry 918-825-4678
E-mail: scott.fry@okstate.eduCaddo-Kiowa Technology Center
Jack Bryant, Redlands Community College 405-422-1256
E-mail: bryantj@redlandscc.edu
Francis Tuttle Technology Center
Malcolm Fowler 405-717-4311
E-mail: mfowler@francistuttle.com