Sherry Foster Named ACTE National Outstanding New Teacher

Sherry Foster, IT instructor at Indian Captial Technology Center's Tahlequah Campus, displays a Proclamation from Mayor Cook from the City of Tahlequah proclaiming December 19 as SHERRY FOSTER DAY. The Proclamation and a Legislative Citation from the Oklahoma State Legislature (combined effort of the House and Senate.) presented by Senator Herb Rozell, were part of the festivities honoring Foster during ICTC graduation ceremonies. Foster was named national Outstanding New Career & Technical Teacher, by the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), during the Annual Convention and Career Tech Expo, held December 11-14, in Orlando, FL.

Ann Benson is awarded the Arch of Fame Award

Dr. Ann Benson, former CareerTech state director, was presented the Arch of Fame Award during the Association for Career and Technical Education National Convention held recently in Orlando, Florida. The award is presented annually to an ACTE member who has made a significant impact on the field of career and technical education at national, regional and state levels.

Project Lead the Way Counselors Conference will be held Jan. 14

More than 100 counselors from four technology centers and their sending schools are expected to attend. The conference is to discuss how the academy process works. Three technology centers are looking at pre-engineering curriculum, an outgrowth of the Career Clusters initiative. They are Moore Norman, Tulsa, and Gordon Cooper. Legislators have visited Francis Tuttle’s pre-engineering academy, which was launched last fall. For more information on pre-engineering academies, contact Robin Shott at 405-743-5554 or email rscho@okcareertech.org

New Director of Oil and Gas Training at High Plains Technology Center

In July, High Plains Technology Center received notification of the $1.5million dollar grant for a two-year period from the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant will fund various oil and gas training initiatives including well servicing, production, drilling floor hand training, derrick hand training, and driller training. Ron Walsmith was recently named as Director of Oil and Gas Training at High Plains Technology Center.   
 
Walsmith joins J.C. Ellis, well servicing instructor at High Plains Technology Center and Dr. Bill Jackson, assistant superintendent for Business and Industry Services in administering the grant and providing the training.   At least three other staff members are being added to help utilize the grant effectively and a Drilling Instructor will be hired in the near future.  For more information on the training program, contact Walsmith at 580 571-6123.