Tech Traditions Run Deep in Local Family

Volume 36

Number 2

Spring 2005

By Tiffany Bruce
Marketing and Public Relations Director
Tri County Technology Center

Tech Traditions Run Deep in Local Family

At Tri County Technology Center, the Randolph family legacy lives on.

In 1972, welding student Monte Randolph was president of the 450-member Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) chapter at Tri County Technology Center.

While Monte was busy learning a trade at Tri County Tech, so was his future bride, although they didn’t know each other yet. His wife, Carol, attended the Business Office program, competed in the interviewing competition at the state level and uses skills learned even today, as the Bartlesville Allergy Clinic office manager.

The first child to follow the legacy at Tri County Tech was son, Brandon, graduating from the Information Technology program in 2003. Close behind came daughter Stephanie, who will complete the cosmetology program in May.

Then came Brett.

This spring at the 62nd Annual DECA Leadership Development Conference held in Tulsa, Brett, the youngest of three, was elected by his peers to serve the State of Oklahoma as the DECA parliamentarian on the State Action Team. He and his partner, Emily Patterson, also placed second in the state in the competitive event Entrepreneurship Promotion Plan.

DECA is a co-curricular, student-centered educational organization and the professional organization for students enrolled in marketing education courses. DECA activities are designed to reinforce competencies taught in marketing and management courses.

Campaigning on the platform of “Your Choice, Your Future,” Brett encouraged his peers not to rely solely on fortune and luck in their future, but to learn a skill and work hard for their successes.

Brett will not only serve as the parliamentarian on the State Action Team for 2005-2006, but represented Oklahoma at the International Career Development Conference in April in Anaheim, Calif.

According to the elder Randolph, the success of the Randolph family can be directly attributed to the CareerTech system.

Monte and son Brett

Monte and son Brett

“Tri County Technology Center is a good start to the future,” the elder Randolph said. “Students graduating from high school who have also attended Tri County are a step ahead of their counterparts. I’m proud of my three children for recognizing this and pursuing this success. It’s a closer step to professionalism than high school.”

“My dad impressed upon me that all kids should go to Tech to learn the foundations of working and having a good work ethic and skills,” he said.

As a high school student in 1972, Monte attended Tri County to obtain a trade in welding. He wasn’t sure if he was college bound at that time and wanted a skill to prepare for the work force.

Monte, Brett, and Stephanie Randolf

Monte, Brett, and Stephanie Randolf

While in the welding program he competed on the Parliamentary Procedure Team placing fourth in the state, as well as serving as the chapter president for VICA – now known as SkillsUSA. He eventually earned a college degree in mechanical design while using his welding skills to pay his way through college.

Skills as a leader learned through his CareerTech experience, followed him into his professional career serving as the President of the Oklahoma American Design Drafters Association.

The skills Monte honed in VICA benefited him throughout college and his professional career. He encountered no problems in college speaking to groups because he already had training in public speaking from his Tech days.

Later, those public speaking skills have been called upon when working with and training employees. He now uses those skills teaching mechanical design courses at Tulsa Community College.

Brett is a junior in high school and still has another year at Tri County Tech before completing the Marketing Management program in 2006.

Although the mission of Tri County Tech has remained the same, “to provide superior training in the skills and behaviors necessary for employment,” some things have changed according to Monte.

“There are a lot more people involved than when I went to school there,” said the elder Randolph. “A lot more people also benefit from the CareerTech system and have seen the value it gives back to the economy. The teachers were good then, but now the school has recruited and brought in advanced, excellent teachers.”

As indicated by Brett, Tri County Tech is completely different than his home high school.

“After I graduate from Tech I will be better prepared for college than I would have been just going to high school and I will be one step ahead of my peers. I am treated and educated differently at Tech. I have to attend high school, but it is my choice to attend Tech.”