Local Leaders Working To Make Oregon A "CTE Star"

On Tuesday, June 30th, a group of 45 movers and shakers from the education and business worlds gathered together at PCC Sylvania. The goal? To form a professional learning community in order to strengthen our regional CTE programs and form a cohesive vision for the future.

The meeting, facilitated by Solutions Tree associate Regina Owens, helped clarify the challenges we face, the successes we've achieved, and the goals we want to focus on in the coming years.

Here are a few of the accomplishments that our CTE regional leaders are most proud of:

• CTE programs are diverse and in high-demand
• Programs of Study completed and approved
• CTE classes keep kids in school
  
• Improved access to programs
• Partnerships with industry and post-secondary institutions
  
• Award-winning programs
• Awesome instructors
• Quality of CTE programs despite adversity

And here are some of their goals for the near future:

• Oregon becoming a "CTE Star"--a model in career training for the country (and the world!)
• Create and communicate a unified message about the importance of CTE
• Better vertical integration between secondary and post-secondary
• Creation of a tracking system to see the success of our programs
• Develop stronger partnerships with local businesses
• Technical degrees not seen as “less than.”

This meeting forged important connections between high school teachers, administrators, Portland Community College, the Oregon Department of Education, and the local business community. Together, this group is working hard to maintain past success and put these exciting new goals into action.