by Leslie Simmons | Nov 17, 2020 | News and Updates
Message from Brandon Jewell | Director of Industry Engagement
“When life gives you lemons, learn to juggle!”
When the shelter-in-place order hit last spring, I admit it was difficult for me to understand how best to do my job, which is to connect teachers and their students to local employers to help young people explore and prepare for career opportunities here in Sonoma County. This is a crucial part of CTE curriculum because it helps students understand the real-world relevance to both the academic and hands-on learning they’re doing in class.
As April 1 rolled around, it was clear that school-community engagement was going to look different than ever before. But CTE Foundation was committed to finding a way to spark students’ interest through engaging opportunities.
I began by recording one-on-one interviews with local employers to help students explore careers from home. These were a hit for students and teachers, but we at CTE Foundation wanted to do more to actively engage students and allow them to interact with employers.
Over the summer, we conceptualized a year’s worth of virtual activities with a focus on local career opportunities. In October, we partnered with the Sonoma County Economic Development Board, Sonoma County Office of Education and local employers to design five live activities including virtual facility tours, manufacturing demonstrations and panel discussions.
There is no substitute for in-person learning, but we’ve discovered that virtual activities allow us to impact more students per activity than we ever could in person. Instead of a single class with 25 students, hundreds of students can engage with one activity! These virtual experiences provide an opportunity to be live and interactive, but recordings are available on YouTube, allowing students to learn on their own time.
Thanks to partnerships with local employers, these activities are made for and by local people, connecting students to career opportunities in Sonoma County and providing an important distinction between any other videos or learning activities found online.
November is Construction Month and we’ve partnered with the North Coast Builders Exchange to bring more live virtual activities to students. We look forward to bringing teachers and students a full school year of live and interactive virtual activities that offer the unique opportunity to connect with and learn from local employers.
We’d love you to get involved. Reach out to me to learn how you can support these virtual activities. To see all of the past and future activities, visit www.CTESonomaCounty.org/VirtualCCL.
–Brandon Jewell, Director of Industry Engagement, CTE Foundation
Industry partners in construction and engineering have been sharing their educational and career pathways with students through interviews, virtual tours and panels.
Check out all the virtual activities available here.
by Leslie Simmons | Nov 5, 2019 | News and Updates, Press
Santa Rosa, California (October 25, 2019) – STEMhub, a web-based platform designed as a dynamic resource for women and girls interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and careers is now live.
STEMhub is the first online resource to serve as a clearinghouse for women and girls in the North Bay to learn about regional STEM-related opportunities such as classes, meetups, events, seminars, careers and conferences. It is designed to connect “learners” – those interested in pursuing STEM education or career pathways – with “mentors” who are already working in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
Nationally and in California, the demand for a skilled STEM workforce is growing and STEM jobs offer higher salaries than non-STEM jobs. Women working in STEM jobs earn, on average, 33% more than those in other fields, yet women account for only 24% of the STEM workforce. Women’s under-representation in STEM fields begins early, with gender gaps in STEM interests beginning in middle school and growing throughout high school, college and career.
To address these challenges, the Career Technical Education (CTE) Foundation launched Community WISE (Women Investing in STEM Equity) in 2017, a coalition of individuals and organizations wishing to invest in support structures for women and girls in STEM. CWISE has been working strategically for two years to identify innovative solutions that enrich learning experiences and inform career exploration such that more North Bay women and girls will be encouraged to pursue STEM education and careers. An example of this effort includes the successful Girls Tinker Academy, a two-week summer camp that utilizes maker principles and activities to introduce and teach STEM concepts (see Press Democrat article from June 30, 2019).
“STEMhub is a way for us to both broaden and deepen our impact for girls in the North Bay by allowing us to engage with potentially thousands of women and girls instead of just dozens,” said Amber Figueroa, associate executive director at CTE Foundation. “We’re really excited about the mentor component because research shows that when women and girls are introduced to strong STEM role models who are women, a career in these fields becomes as attractive and attainable as any other.”
The STEMhub web platform uses gaming strategy in its design and offers “badges” to learners for participating in various local STEM events, connecting with other learners and mentors, and for building a mentorship relationship. Learners are separated into pathways according to their current level of STEM participation and can move to other paths depending on their engagement with the platform. Once learners become more experienced in their chosen STEM fields, they receive a certificate from the platform, and they are encouraged to apply for mentorship on STEMhub to help other young women find their own way in any STEM field.
With direction from the CWISE Steering Committee, STEMhub platform development has been led by Dr. Julia Mossbridge, a scientist, technologist, and author who puts together technology teams. “This launch is really thrilling for me,” Mossbridge gushed. “I’ve been in this field for twenty years and this is the first time I’ve worked with an all-woman team, believe it or not. I’m not saying it’s better; I’ve worked with excellent men too, but for this project there is of course a feeling of commitment among these women. This experience reinforces my belief that we need more women in STEM not because it’s simply ‘fair’ or ‘equitable,’ but because we need people who think in many different ways to solve difficult problems, and my team has done just that.”
STEMhub is a community driven resource web-page, so community members with a background or experience in STEM – or simply with a passion for supporting women and girls to pursue STEM education or careers – are invited to begin populating the site with community events and mentor profiles. Simply log on to stem-hub.com to add community events or register as a mentor.
For more information, visit stem-hub.com and ctesonomacounty.org/cwise.
by Leslie Simmons | Jun 24, 2019 | News and Updates, Uncategorized
Kaylie L., Cloverdale High School
“I’ve always wanted to be a baker,” said Kaylie, so it’s no surprise that she has twice enrolled in the Farm-to-Table Culinary class, one of many funded by CTE Foundation.
“I loved this class and recommend it for everyone,” said Kaylie, a sophomore at Cloverdale High School. “I like the fact that we cook every week and I learn new and better ways to cook things than I already knew.”
She especially enjoyed the hands-on experience in the garden and getting important skills she can take anywhere in the future – not only in the kitchen but also project management and marketing.
“It surprised me to learn how easy it is to make homemade products like lip balm, lotion and candles. I’ve learned that instead of using chemicals, you can use bees wax. It’s just three ingredients and you’re done.”
Kaylie’s enthusiasm and experience were enough to impress Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville. Earlier this year, she and her classmates attended the Food & Beverage Manufacturing Career Summit hosted by CTE Foundation, and to her surprise, Kaylie was offered a baking job on the spot at Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville.
“I’m so excited,” Kaylie says. “I’m going to be in the baking department getting trained for two months and then I can actually be alone and do everything by myself.”
by amber figueroa | Apr 29, 2017 | News and Updates, Press, Video
Students Connect with Employees and Hiring Managers to Learn About Career Opportunities
Fifteen food and beverage manufacturers joined CTE Foundation in a first-ever event designed to introduce high school and college students to the wide variety of career paths available in the industry. From production and bottling line design, engineering, and maintenance, to food chemistry, quality control, and product delivery, over 100 participating students learned how their skills and interests could lead to fulfilling jobs right here in Sonoma County.
Straus Family Creamery, E&J Gallo, Whole Foods, Cowgirl Creamery, Petaluma Poultry, and American Ag Credit sponsored the event. Jackson Family Wines brought a mobile bottling line to demonstrate some of the complex machinery required to bring products to market, and the mechanical skills required to operate them.
Check out our video to hear what students have to say about the event and the opportunities they uncovered for themselves.
North Bay Business Journal and Press Democrat were on site to report on events, read the full article here.
by amber figueroa | Oct 12, 2016 | News and Updates
NBBJ Publishes Our Thoughts on Work Based Learning
A New Model for Sonoma County
The North Bay Business Journal (NBBJ) this week published our guest article! Co-written by Kathy Goodacre, CTE Foundation Executive Director, and CTE Foundation Board Liaison Stephen Jackson from SCOE, the piece presents basic principles of Sonoma County’s work-based learning initiative and the many benefits it generates for students, local industry and the community.
Success in school over past decades has been measured by standardized test scores and college entry statistics, mostly ignoring the more intangible measure of how prepared a student is to navigate the challenges of work and life upon graduation from high school or college. The ability to regurgitate memorized knowledge is certainly easier to quantify than one’s ability to
apply critical thinking and creativity to solve a real-world challenge. But our attempt to assess educational success by multiple choice test scores has led to a slew of graduates that can recite a solution to a math problem while having no idea how to generate it or to which issues to employ its use. Nor do they have any understanding for why their academic courses matter in the real world.
Hiring and training managers in a variety of industries repeatedly lament the ill-prepared nature of today’s entry-level job candidates. Our newest members of the workforce lack basic skills in communication, project and time management, problem-solving, and self-direction, among others.
Work-based learning is currently being employed in Sonoma County schools as a strategy to better prepare students for college and career and as an instructional tool in the classroom. This approach integrates career exploration, technical and soft skills training, and hands-on industry-related project work with traditional academics, ultimately creating a deeper learning experience that is highly relevant to life after school. It ensures that students are exposed to potential careers at a young age, starting in grade school, and provides a spectrum of opportunities to observe and apply classroom learning via job shadowing, internships, and industry-mentored project work.
Read the article in its entirety here.
by amber figueroa | Oct 4, 2016 | News and Updates
Industry analysts are projecting that more than 360,000 craft construction professionals will be needed in California by October 2019? That’s an astounding number of skilled trade jobs that need to be filled!
The National Center for Construction Education and Research and the State of California have identified October as Careers in Construction Month in order to build awareness around the variety of high wage, high demand craft careers available in construction. In addition, the Sonoma County Economic Development Board has identified Construction/Green Services as one of five key
industry clusters that are important to local economic development over the next 10 years. In response to the opportunities presented by the industry and its benefits for our local communities, CTE Foundation is actively promoting Construction Technology programs in Sonoma County High Schools through its competitive grant program.In partnership with North Coast Builders Exchange and the Sonoma County Office of Education, CTE Foundation has launched a “Construction Corps” program this fall to recruit and train High School students interested in construction careers. Construction Corps offers a variety of activities, including workshops, job shadowing, on the job training, and summer Boot Camp, to facilitate career exploration and to develop a work-ready labor force for the industry. Students will be able to apply for the competitive program beginning October 13th and program work will begin in January.
To make this program a success, we need local industry partners to host job shadows for interested students. Each job shadow experience includes three or more hours spent with 2-3 student candidates who have indicated interest in applying for the Construction Corps program. Job shadows will take place in the month of October.
If you are interested in participating as a job shadow host for this inspirational program, please contact Patricia Biagi at pbiagi@ctesonomacounty.org or (707)708-7080.
by amber figueroa | Sep 29, 2016 | News and Updates, Student Stories
CTE Student Stories
Ron Billberry teaches the Conceptual Physics course at Archbishop Hanna High School, a residential rehabilitation program for at risk youth. Students come to the school from a variety of challenging life situations – from dealing with drug addiction and abuse to fleeing gang violence and a potential life in prison. Instructors at the school are charged with helping motivated youth graduate high school, prepare for college, and develop technical and soft skills that will help them change their lives for the better.
The CTE Foundation chose Hanna High School through a competitive grant-making process to receive one of four SWITCH Lab Kits in 2016. The Kit provides curriculum and components for building a street legal electric vehicle, thus giving students a real world application for their coursework in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Students are also exposed to concepts in Electricity, Alternative Fuels, Manufacturing, Science, Automotive Technology, and Clean Energy Generation while working through Common Core requirements.
In alignment with CTE principles, Ron believes that every student wants to be a part of something that offers real life, hands on learning, and building the SWITCH electric vehicle represents a particularly exciting opportunity in this regard. In its inaugural year, students weren’t exactly sure what to expect of the new curriculum. Ron launched the course by taking his eight students on a tour of the SWITCH EV plant where they could see the cars up close and personal. They were thrilled to learn that the SWITCH cars were real street-worthy vehicles, and when the co-founder took each of them for a test drive, their collective energy and excitement for the class was sky high.
The students represented a full range of mechanical experience – some had worked on their own cars and some had never held a wrench. After the initial
excitement wore off, many of them were pessimistic about their ability to actually build the vehicle from the ground up. “None of us knew what we were doing,” said Carlos C., a student in the class.
“When we first got the car, everything was scrambled everywhere, and no one knew what piece was what,” said Arthur L., another student. “We talked it over and decided we needed to first identify the pieces and visualize them working together, and that helped the project come together and made it easier to assemble it.”
The course wasn’t easy, and the first time they turned the key the car wouldn’t start. The students went through a troubleshooting process – an important step in teaching them how to learn from failure – and eventually the car did start. Teamwork is another important skill practiced in the class. “Organization and good communication were really important to having good teamwork,” said Carlos. His classmate Arthur added, “I wasn’t interested in electrical work at first, but there was a kid who was and we worked together in a way where I helped him with the mechanical work and he helped me with the electrical; it was good to work together.”
Ron also asked his students to think about their environmental impacts. “We had homework assignments as we built the car, looking at the differences between an electric car and a normal gasoline car to see which was better for the environment,” said Carlos, “Many argued that an electric vehicle is bad because of all the chemicals it takes to make a battery, but in the end it would not pollute at all. We compared that with having a car that runs on gas and pollutes the environment every time. I think that was really helpful to learn.”
As a testament to the kids’ enthusiasm, Ron had to practically chase the boys out of class at the end of each period, which happened to be right before lunch. For the first time ever, rather than bolting for the door before the bell, students would stay up to 10 minutes into the lunch break – they were so engaged, they didn’t want to stop.
During a celebratory ride with one of his students at the end of the school year, Ron remembers looking over to see his satisfied, happy smile. When he asked what he was smiling about, the student responded, “I can’t believe I built this car.”
by amber figueroa | Oct 22, 2015 | News and Updates
The Press Democrat Tours Sebastopol’s SWITCH Electric Vehicles Workshop with Local CTE Students
CTE Foundation’s partnership with Sonoma Clean Power, Switch Electric Vehicles, and the Sonoma County Office of Education, has captured the attention of The Press Democrat. In a competitive grant process, CTE Foundation recently approved the applications of four local schools who will soon offer the Switch Lab Kit as a course for its students.
The course provides materials and curriculum for students to build a street-legal electric vehicle and gain knowledge and skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Students will be exposed to concepts in Electricity, Alternative Fuels, Manufacturing, Science, Automotive Technology, Clean Energy Generation, while also working through Common Core requirements.
In this article, reporter Jeremy Hay talks to the people who make the program possible.
by amber figueroa | Aug 21, 2015 | grant announcement, News and Updates
Clean Energy Education through STEM Learning
A partnership to meet the program and educational goals for
Sonoma Clean Power and other industry leaders interested in a clean energy future.
The Career Technical Education (CTE) Foundation, Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE), and Switch Electric Vehicles, together with their Presenting Sponsor Sonoma Clean Power, propose to engage educational institutions in implementing an Electric Vehicle (EV) design and manufacturing program to develop awareness, knowledge and skills among our youth around clean energy.
The Switch Electric Vehicle program is implemented through a competitive grants process administered by the CTE Foundation. School sites are invited to apply for up to 4 available Switch Lab kits and training which can be implemented in a variety of classroom programs (Auto Shop, Science, Maker Lab, Engineering/Design, Summer Camp, etc.). The Switch Lab Kit provides materials and curriculum for students to build an electric vehicle and gain knowledge and skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Further, the program can be implemented in a course as one unit over six weeks, or expanded to encompass an entire semester of 18 weeks. A mandatory 5-day training is required of all instructors participating in the program.
The CTE Foundation invites Sonoma County public schools (middle school through post secondary) to attend an informational workshop on Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. at the Sonoma County Office of Education. RSVP to Kathy Goodacre required.
More information and the Request for Application is available on the Programs and Grants page of our website. Application deadline is September 18th.
Please contact Kathy Goodacre, Executive Director, CTE Foundation for more information at (707)537-1679 or kgoodacre@ctesonomacounty.org.
by amber figueroa | Jul 24, 2015 | News and Updates, Video
Students Share Their Experiences with Career Technical Education Courses
The Career Technical Education (CTE) Foundation funds a variety of programs to ensure Sonoma County students are college and career ready. CTE Education provides both job specific and employability skills, such as creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. The Foundation was created in 2012 with the express purpose to expand and enhance career technical training and work readiness for Sonoma County students, and to align education with the workforce and economic development needs of the County. To date, CTE Foundation has granted over $700,000 to Sonoma County Schools for the development and implementation of CTE programs.
This short video introduces you to some of the students participating in our CTE programs, and provides some insight into how they are benefiting from career technical education.
