On Friday, January 31, we enjoyed an EPIC presentation from CTE Coordinator, Mark Gregory, about the many educational opportunities offered in our valley focused on career and technical education. Gregory works for the Colorado River BOCES (Board of Cooperative Services) coordinating Career and Technical Education (CTE) with the area school districts and local college.
What is CTE and how is it different from VoTech? Great question and one the Gregory was happy to address. He noted that VoTech is an old nickname for vocational technology and it focused on training in skilled trades that did not typically provide college credit and directed students to the job market. Career and technical education (CTE) is broader and encompasses a broader area of career fields, integrates with school academic subjects and skills, and includes additional education. Within CTE is the preparation of students for specific careers, practical real world employment skills that may include internships, apprenticeships, and industry certifications. So you can see that CTE is a broad and comprehensive array of educational options - both secondary and post-secondary - that prepare student for careers.
Colorado has an extensive focus on CTE and helps explain the various programs and areas of study that are available to students with a map of Career Clusters. It's worth looking at (click on the link) because you will see how many career fields are encompassed by CTE. It's not just training; it includes short term training as well as higher level educational pathways. All of the programmatic focus of CTE is targeted to career pathways and the opportunities for people to both explore and pursue careers within broad clusters of specific jobs.
Gregory emphasized that EPIC - Educational Pathways to Innovative Careers - is the umbrella department operated by the Colorado River BOCES. CRBOCES is not the provider of the education, but works with each school district and college to coordinate opportunities and help schools and students find their niche. Mitch Foss is a secondary teacher with Roaring Fork schools and serves as an instructional coach in social studies, English and CTE. His job links the CTE programs with academic subjects so students are fulfilling academic requirements along with learning career skills.
Key Take Aways from today's program:
- It's not our fathers' VoTech anymore! CTE has more to offer students and communities beyond skilled trades.
- Data on lifetime earnings related to education and training has shifted resulting in more value of career skills and problem-solving to provide individuals with careers that provide strong earning potential and high quality of life.
- Across the nation labor markets note the high need of trained professionals in skilled and technical trades fields. Many professions are seeing the urgent need for replacement of skilled workers as baby boomers age out of their careers.
- Now is an excellent time to understand and support Career and Technical Education. Thank you Pat Peel for bringing Gregory, Foss, and CTE to our attention.