As a career and technical education (CTE) teacher, you know the importance of preparing students for the workforce — no matter which CTE career cluster or pathway they follow.
But how do you express that importance to your students, school, and community?
That’s where CTE Month comes in!
Every February, students, educators, and administrators raise awareness of CTE programs by celebrating CTE month.
What can I do to celebrate CTE Month?
- Invite a different guest speaker each day (for a week) or once a week who holds a different career related to CTE.
- Start a service-learning project for your community.
- Encourage the entire CTE department to decorate their doors/classrooms, or digitally on your virtual backgrounds, based on their area/careers.
- Find local college/university connections and opportunities.
- Get together with the CTE department to create a promo video for all CTE programs.
- Focus on a different aspect of CTE each week: Week 1-Schools that offer CTE career programs, Week 2- CTE Clubs, Week 3- CTE Careers, Week 4- All CTE Celebration (Spirit Week).
- Takeover school announcements highlighting different students, clubs, and activities for the month: CTE Student of the week, CTSO of the week, CTE Teacher of the week, etc.
- Plan a CTE (or virtual) Community Fair- Each CTE class can invite someone from their industry to showcase program related careers.
- Download the CTE Month logo for use with any print or digital outreach.
Please note, the “CTE Month” or “Career and Technical Education Month” must be followed by the trademark sign (®) the first time it appears in a document or visual presentation.
Montana CTE Network Associated Websites
Did you know that the Office of Public Instruction - Career and Technical Education division has a series of websites to help you navigate the important elements of your CTE content area in Montana?
The websites (linked below) are devoted to supporting stakeholders involved in Montana CTE like state and national Career and Technical Student Organizations, local and national associations, resources for teachers, events, pathways to learning, and so much more! For more information, click on your CTE content area below.
The OPI - CTE Team Visits Bozeman Schools
Recently, members of the OPI Career and Technical and Adult Education team spent the day in Bozeman visiting both Bozeman High and Gallatin High Schools. CTAE programs are alive and strong which was evident by the exceptional experiences witnessed by the CTE specialists. In particular, the automotive programs offer industry hands on interactions with industry equipment and real-world procedures. The Photography programs have a dark room for learning the process of film processing as well as the introduction to photography using a variety of equipment. It was shared a number of students actually have their own photography businesses which is quite impressive.
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Family & Consumer Sciences
Their Culinary facilities offer industry experiences within culinary training kitchens developed with thoughtful and strategic decision making in layout planning. The health-related courses include a wide variety of experiences from emergency medicine to expanding student understanding of the science behind procedures and practice.
Bozeman High has a childcare facility onsite and a vision of expanding CTE experiences in early childhood to include interactions and partnership with the childcare center is emerging. This potential opportunity could serve as an example for other areas of Montana suffering from a lack of quality care.
Health Science
Both Gallatin and Bozeman High Schools offer students a premier Biomedical Science program that exposes students to a variety of health professions. The program prepares students for futures in the medical field by helping them to explore topics like disease, DNA analysis, prosthetic design, public health, and more.
The program at both schools is supported by experienced teachers who value the facilitation of applied science. Students at Gallatin High have enjoyed an annual Helicopter Day on campus facilitated by the Billings Clinic Skilled Med Flight Team. This event draws crowds of students from all CTE Pathway programs to the campuses’ north lawn where students are exposed to highly trained med flight team members who demonstrate some emergency medicine skill sets required by air ambulance services. This activity teaches students about significant career pathways in becoming flight nurses, paramedics, flight dispatchers, flight respiratory therapists, obstetric flight nurses, and neonatal transport teams.
Helicopter Day at Gallatin High School is just one example of the efforts being made to bring industry professionals to the campus. The students are able to take the knowledge they’ve learned in the classroom and see how that knowledge is applied in the field by industry experts. The Biomedical Science program at Gallatin and Bozeman High Schools is very impressive and supported by quality teaching and programming.
The CTAE team would like to thank the administration and CTE teachers at both schools for being such great hosts. A special thank you to the culinary program for the refreshments.
BPA Rotunda Recap
On February 6th the Montana BPA state officer team traveled to the State Capitol to talk to legislators for the betterment of Montana BPA. They represented BPA exceptionally well as they urged legislators to support House Bill 382 by sharing their personal experiences in Business Professionals of America. House Bill 382 revises education laws related to career and technology student organizations (CTSO). This means that not only will more attention be given to career and technical student organizations across the state, but more funding as well!
The passing of this bill is vital to continue to support the growing membership of BPA. In addition, your officer team had the opportunity to attend the proclamation signing of this bill by Governor Greg Gianforte and thank him for his support. If you are interested in supporting Montana BPA, we urge you to reach out to your local legislators and share with them how Business Professionals of America has impacted you and how their support in the passing of this bill (HB#382) will allow BPA to thrive.
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Registration is Now Open for the Personal Finance Challenge: April 5 is the Deadline for the Team Competition
What is the Personal Finance Challenge?
Every year, the Montana Council for Economic Education (MCEE), with support from the National Council for Economic Education hosts the Montana Personal Finance Challenge. The challenge is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge of personal finance by connecting with other students from across the state in an online competition.
How does the challenge work?
Teams of 3-4 students will have 35 minutes to complete a 30-question online exam covering the principles of personal finance including money management, credit, investing, and insurance. Testing must be completed by April 5, 2023. Sample tests are available in the program.
Students earn 10 points for every correct response and 0 points for each incorrect answer. Every question must be answered to move on, and students are not able to go back to previous questions.
There will be a cash prize for the top three teams in Montana:
- 1st Place: $500 per team
- 2nd Place: $250 per team
- 3rd Place: $100 per team
Next Steps
- If you are new to the Montana Personal Finance Challenge, welcome. You will need to select "Teacher Registration" from the menu and create your teacher profile. Once you profile is created, you will be able to log in and begin creating your teams.
- If you are a returning teacher, welcome back. Your profile information is saved from your previous participation, and you can log in to begin creating your teams for this year's challenge!
- Teachers sign up their team(s). You may sign up multiple teams on your teacher admin page, after you log-in—no need to register more than once.
Teacher Drawing
For each registered team that completes the challenge, teachers will be entered into a drawing for a $100 cash prize.
Teachers can create as many student teams as they would like, and the Montana Council for Economic Education has generously provided all registration and participation fees.
*In the event of a tie score, the team with the cumulative least amount of time testing will win.
For questions or for more information, please contact MCEE Executive Director Dax Schieffer at mcee@montana.edu.
National FCS Educator Day
Celebrated February 15, 2023
Montana Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) educators were celebrated this week as part of FCCLA Week on National FCS Education Day. In honor of this event, Gayla Randel, OPI FCS Specialist hosted an “FCS Day Happy Hour” over the lunch hour, offering a chance for teachers to pop in and out, listen to music, and have a chance at door prizes. This event was a fun way to be “together” without the sub plans or transportation paperwork! It was concluded the event was a success, with a number of requests to host others in the future.
Family and Consumer Sciences education is found in all countries globally and, every state in the nation. This school year, 92 MT schools are offering 175 Family and Consumer Sciences related pathways with over 15,500 student enrollments. FCS teachers are also Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) advisers, expanding real world experiences through authentic leadership in local, state, and national projects, making differences in the communities in which they live. In 2021-22, over 279,000 individuals were involved in MT FCCLA projects with a combined volunteer service value of $163,000+. From financial literacy and event planning activities to child development and nutrition projects, FCCLA members use their youth voice to address today’s issues with real solutions.
FCCLA is an extension of the FCS classroom with intracurricular value. FCCLA is part of a larger CTSO (Career and Technical Student Organization) family, of which Montana offers seven options for schools.
Contact gayla.randel@mt.gov for more information about adding or expanding FCS Education and FCCLA in your schools.
Dick Anderson Construction:
Eric Burtchett Memorial Scholarship Fund Application
Community Responds to Canceled FFA Fundraiser
By Lauren Denton, February 9th, 2023
In 2013, Lori Hoppe started the ag program in Gardiner, Mont., a small 800-person community bordering Yellowstone National Park. To mark its 10th year, the FFA chapter — housed in a K-12 school with roughly 60 junior and senior high students — boasted a near 50% student body participation rate, and was the first agricultural sales CDE team to not only win the district contest but also to qualify to compete at national convention. After four years of competing and “stick-to-it-ness,” as Hoppe describes, the trajectory for the small chapter was only going up.
Until a literal roadblock threatened their trip to the national stage.
On June 13, 2022, the Yellowstone River flooded, cutting off the one road in and out of Gardiner — and thus, all visitors passing through to enter the park. No tourism meant no local rodeo, which meant no concessions stand to help raise funds for the trip to the National FFA Convention & Expo.
“I spent several days just trying to brainstorm [what we were going to do],” Hoppe says. “I felt strongly we couldn’t ask our [impacted] community to contribute. It would be tough and a little insulting.”
The answer wasn’t far off, though. “It dawned on me that we had a utility trailer we’d built in class,” she says. “We could try to sell it at the county fair.”
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