This Video Sums It Up

Beaverton Superintendent Jeff Rose wanted to illustrate the amazing impact of CTE programs, so he went straight to the source--students and teachers in the Health Careers program at Maryville Nursing Home. This video spreads the message loud and clear: CTE classes make a difference for students and our communities.

Career Days Give Students Hands-On Experience In Nontraditional Careers

This year, for the first time ever, PCC PAVTEC partnered with the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce to put on two high school Career Days focused on careers that are nontraditional by gender.

On October 25th nearly 70 young women from area high schools came to PCC's Willow Creek campus for Girls' Day Out. Pioneering female sports broadcaster Ann Schatz kicked things off with an inspiring speech, and for the rest of the day the students rotated through hands-on activities and Q&A sessions with professionals currently working in nontraditional fields such as engineering, manufacturing, and electronic technology.

All the professionals donated their time to attend the event and based on feedback from students, the day was a huge success. The vast majority of young women who attended expressed interest in learning more about working in a nontraditional field.


On November 1st it was time for Guys' Day Out. Fifty high school boys gathered at the Tuality Health Education Center for a full day of career exploration activities focused on early childhood education and nursing careers. They spent time in a second grade classroom helping kids with their reading lessons, toured the preschool at HilHi, spoke to a child and family studies graduatehad candid Q&A sessions with nurses and other medical professionals.

These two career days were an eye-opening experience, and one thing's for sure: this lucky group of will definitely have a different perspective about what constitutes a "traditional career" from now on.

Social Media Outreach Video Playlist

Check out all of our amazing student-produced Social Media Outreach videos in one handy playlist!

HilHi Student Shows Senator Merkley That "Girls Get IT"

On Friday, August 26th, Senator Jeff Merkley visited Hillsboro High School to discuss the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. HilHi junior Savannah Loberger gave a presentation about a project she undertook this summer: organizing a 5-day STEM summer camp called "Girls Get IT."

The camp was staffed by female engineering students who volunteered their time to coach, teach, and mentor 37 young women through hands-on activities that ranged from learning binary code to electrocuting pickles. Savannah pulled together funding and donations from local companies to provide supplies, food, and tech-centric goodie bags for participants (there was a lego keychain involved).

The whole crowd--which consisted of business and political leaders, STEM students, and the media--was impressed with Savannah's work, but Senator Merkley's reaction really summed it up: "That is easily the coolest project I've seen from a high school student," he said. "Also, what exactly happens when you electrocute a pickle?"

To hear the answer to that question and learn more about "Girls Get IT," check out Savannah's speech:



HilHi engineering and robotics teacher Don Domes spoke about the state of STEM education in Oregon and shared his vision for success in the future:



Thank you to Senator Merkley for visiting HilHi and championing STEM programs in congress, and thank you to Savannah Loberger, Mr. Domes, and others in our region who work hard every day to improve access to quality high tech education.

Extra Credit:
Steve Duin's column on Merkley's visit
Hillsboro Argus article on "Girls Get IT"
Salem-News article on Merkley's STEM legislation

We Dare You To Not Laugh At This Video

When Banks High School senior Korey Kelly was tasked with making a recruitment video for his Animal Sciences class, he turned to a classic marketing adage: You can't go wrong with a man in a bunny suit.

Check out the hilarious finished product above, and see how Korey was able to use humor to get his message across. (We've watched it about 15 times here at PAVTEC, and we're still giggling.)

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.

Westview Girls In Tech

Westview High School film students Gabby Clark, Olivia Wheeler, and Matt O'Hara produced this sleek recruitment video to encourage more girls to sign up for career and technical classes.

Banks FFA Does It Again!

Banks FFA Dairy Cattle Judging Team picture: (left right) Nick Evers, Mitchell Evers, Gerritt Schmidlkofer, Mathias Schmidlkofer, Eric Evers, LeeAnn Pallett, Stefani Evers, Abby Evers

For the third time in four years, the Banks FFA Dairy Cattle Judging Team has earned top honors by placing first at the State FFA Dairy Cattle Judging Contest. Banks now gets to represent Oregon at the National Dairy Cattle Evaluation Career Development Event this coming October at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On Monday, Banks FFA was among about 20 teams from around the state to descend on the Oregon State University Dairy Research Center for an afternoon of evaluating dairy cattle. The event consists of evaluating six classes of live heifers and cows based on current industry standards, evaluating the genetic merit of two more classes of animals, then giving two sets of oral reasons, where the student orally describes the class and defends their placing to a judge. Even if a student does not planning pursuing a career in the dairy industry, the skills gained through participation in this event will benefit them for the rest of their life.

Banks FFA has developed quite a reputation for dairy cattle judging over the past few years. After winning the state contest in the early 90s, Banks FFA took a 15-year hiatus from dairy judging, and then started a team back up in 2007. In 2007, the team placed 8th at the state contest, and started a tradition of success that continues today. The following year in 2008, Banks dairy judging team placed first at the state level, then went on to place 15th at the national level. They followed that success with a first place finish in 2009, and a second place finish in 2010.

Along with the first place team performance this year, four members placed in the top 10 individually. Eric Evers placed first overall, Mathias Schmidlkofer placed 7th, Gerritt Schmidlkofer placed 9th, & Stefani Evers placed 10th. The team will be working hard this summer and next fall to prepare for the national contest in October.

Meek ProTech: A School Unlike Any Other

Meek ProTech is an alternative high school in NE Portland. Wondering what sets it apart from other schools? Check out this video to find out.

Video created by Meek ProTech students Karla Carballo, Keisha McGuffy, and Raymone Kennedy for PCC's Social Media Outreach Project.

Vernonia High School Construction

This marketing video was created by Vernonia High School students Josh Liman, Marina Mekidiche, and Vaclav Michalec for PCC's Social Media Outreach Project. Their goal was to recruit more students into their class and inform the community about the positive impact of the VHS construction program. Their finished product is hilarious and effective--take a look for yourself here or check it out on YouTube.

No Boyz Allowed Class Flourishing in Sherwood

Sherwood high school teachers John Neibergall and Jon Dickover share more than a first name: in adjoining classrooms they teach engineering and construction, respectively, two subjects which traditionally attract a much higher percentage of male students than females.

Unsatisfied with the low numbers of young women enrolled in their engineering classes, John and Jon put their heads together to come up with a solution. They looked at the research behind recruiting female students into nontraditional subjects. They examined the population they were serving: a vibrant and social school of over a thousand students in a tight-knit community. They talked to the young women already in enrolled in their classes.

They decided the best way to introduce female students to a potentially intimidating subject was to create a new class just for them. They gave it a catchy name: No Boyz Allowed. They set up a recruitment table during lunch periods and asked current female engineering students to show off cool projects and answer questions from curious passersby. Engaging prospective students one-on-one is proved to be a simple but powerful strategy: suddenly Sherwood High School students were seeing enthusiastic proof that girls could thrive in high tech classes.

Their hard work paid off: the first NBA class filled up. And then a second one.

Word of mouth from current students will likely popularize the program even more. Many of the students from this introductory class will move into more advanced engineering classes. From there they can pursue college educations and high wage jobs in a high tech field in desperate need of more women.

All thanks to two amazing teachers at Sherwood High School.

Extra Credit: Be sure to check out this great video, created by an NBA student, documenting some of the adventures the class has had so far!