Techniques September 2012 - 38

CareerTech VISION 2012— Business and Industry Training

Figure 2: Number of Industry Credentials Earned by VBCPS CTE Students from 2002–2012
2002 2003
Earned Credential 154 702 1,238 1,795 2,032 3,130 4,051 4,133 4,164 4,541 5,315 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000 5,500

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

31,255 earned credentials of Virginia Beach CTE students

•	 Initiate	the	effort	to	recruit	STEM	 businesses	by	facilitating	and	encouraging	the	city	and	schools	to	develop	a	 STEM	strategic	plan.	 •	 Develop	a	Virginia	Beach	skills	development	model	for	career	opportunities	 in	the	manufacturing	sector. •	 Develop	a	marketing	plan	for	the	 Workplace	Readiness	Skills	for	the	 Commonwealth	credential. •	 Engage	the	business	community	to	 determine	if	the	skill	level	of	the	current	and	future	workforce	meets	their	 competitive	needs. Another	example	of	synergy	is	a	 decade-long	credentialing	emphasis	by	 VBCPS.	A	major	goal	of	the	Virginia	 Beach	City	Public	Schools’	Office	of	Career	and	Technical	Education	is	to	have	 all	CTE	graduates	obtain	at	least	two	 industry	certifications—a	course	content	 certification	and	Virginia’s	Workplace	 Readiness	Skills	for	the	Commonwealth	 credential.	For	the	last	several	years,	the	 city’s	Department	of	Economic	Development	has	sent	letters	to	all	CTE	graduates	 who	obtained	the	latter	credential.	As	 of	July	2012,	results	indicate	that	2,173	 students	earned	this	credential,	more	than	 in	any	other	Virginia	school	division.	In	 Virginia	Beach,	we	operate	on	the	foun-

dation	of	a	strategic	plan	that	is	dedicated	 to	developing	21st-century	skills	among	 our	graduates—skills	such	as	communication,	collaboration,	critical	and	creative	 thinking,	and	innovation.	Our	CTE	 program,	with	its	emphasis	on	credentialing,	has	always	been	ahead	of	the	curve	in	 its	efforts	to	prepare	students	for	college	 and	the	workplace.	Besides	the	technical,	industry-specific	skills,	our	CTE	 staff	works	diligently	to	ensure	that	our	 students	understand	the	importance	of	 the	more	intangible	skills	like	work	ethic	 and	punctuality.	“We	want	our	graduates	to	be	the	total	package	for	potential	 employers,”	says	Superintendent	James	G.	 Merrill. This	credentialing	effort	became	an	 easy	link	to	the	Virginia	Beach	City	Strategic	Plan	under	the	Economic	Vitality	 team’s	STEM	strategy	and	objective	to	increase	business	awareness	of	this	graduate	 skill	focus	(Figure	2)	.

Six Degrees of Separation
I	remember	posing	a	question	to	the	Virginia	superintendent	of	schools	at	a	state	 conference:	“Why	don’t	other	cities	and	 career	and	technical	education	offices	in	 Virginia	make	the	CTE-economic	development	connection?”	He	responded	that	 not	everyone	has	the	relationships	that	I	

had	built	in	Virginia	Beach.	Unfortunately,	we	did	not	get	a	chance	to	expand	on	 the	conversation,	but	I	wonder	what	prevented	other	CTE	colleagues	from	taking	 the	time	to	connect	with	potential	likeminded	friends	in	economic	development?	 Country-wide,	localities	have	STEM-related	CTE	programs	and	city	offices	that	 focus	on	economic	development.	Career	 and	technical	education	serves	to	advance	 a	city’s	economic	development	efforts. The	current	national	focus	on	CTE	 and	STEM	can	provide	many	partnership	opportunities.	For	example,	over	 the	last	several	years	VBCPS	has	had	a	 STEM	emphasis.	In	2011,	led	by	the	Office	of	Career	and	Technical	Education,	 we	expanded	our	STEM	Robotics	Challenge	to	include	several	hundred	K–12	 students	from	22	schools.	Word	spread	 and	the	VBCPS	slogan,	“Robots	Rock	 and	STEM	Rules,”	caught	on.	This	year	 in	June,	citizens,	parents,	teachers,	administrators,	business	partners,	economic	 vitality	team	members	and	business	 leaders	all	came	to	the	robotic	challenge	 event	to	support	STEM	robotics,	further	 emphasizing	STEM	career	pathways	for	 students.	Helping	to	sponsor	the	challenge	 were	local	manufacturing,	electronic	and	 military	partners.	One	of	those	partner	 companies,	STIHL	Inc.,	a	major	sponsor,	
www.acteonline.org

38

Techniques

September 2012
Techniques September 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Techniques September 2012
