Florida Celebrates Career and Technical Education Day on the Hill
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Florida Celebrates Career and Technical Education Day on the Hill
~ Hundreds of students gather at Florida’s capitol to showcase programs that are preparing them for success in the workforce ~Tallahassee – As part of Career and Technical Education Month, nearly 200 students from across the Sunshine State gathered at the state’s Capitol today to showcase the career and technical education programs that are preparing them to succeed in the highly competitive workforce they will soon enter. The third annual Career and Technical Education (CTE) Day on the Hill provided an ideal venue to highlight the rigorous learning that takes place in CTE classrooms and student leadership organizations.
“CTE Day on the Hill is a great opportunity for students from all over the state to show what they know about their chosen career field,” said Education Commissioner Dr. Eric J. Smith. “The state’s public schools and the Florida College System offer a myriad of career and technical education courses that are preparing today’s students for the workforce of tomorrow.”
More than 50 secondary and postsecondary programs that demonstrate the skills necessary to be successful in a wide variety of careers were on display. Students exhibited their career knowledge in health, science, technology, law enforcement and criminal justice, parliamentary procedure, agricultural biotechnology, photojournalism, communications, engineering, architecture and much more. A flight simulator was also displayed, showcasing the aerospace and aviation fields. In addition, students promoted fresh seafood from Florida’s Gulf coast and prepared dessert delicacies to demonstrate their culinary skills.
As part of the day-long experience, Career and Adult Education Chancellor Loretta Costin hosted a CTE Student Summit to discuss the future of career and technical programs in Florida. Fifteen students selected from among those participating in today’s event took part in an informal roundtable discussion to give their perspective on the CTE classroom of the future.
“This event draws attention to the wide range of options available to students as they pursue challenging and rewarding careers,” said Chancellor Costin. “I especially value the student’s viewpoint as we continue expanding the courses offered that will help them secure their future.”
Some of the interactive displays featured high school students who are enrolled in Career Academies. Career and technical education programs offered at schools are grouped in clusters to help students connect the knowledge acquired with the skills they need to be successful in a particular career field. Career academies are small, personalized learning communities within a high school where students enroll for up to four years. Students in a career academy are paired with teachers from different subject areas to form a team that provides focus on a college-prep curriculum with a career theme.
Currently there are more than 95,000 students enrolled in one of the 1,298 registered career and professional academies.
Career and technical education programs are offered in all 67 school districts in Florida, all 28 colleges in the Florida College System, and 46 technical centers located throughout the state.
To learn more about Florida’s Career and Technical Education courses, visit Career and Adult Education.