Career and Technical Education Summit Breakfast February 18, 2015 On February 18, 2015, the Green Bay Area Public School District hosted a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Summit Breakfast. The purpose of the CTE Summit Breakfast was to provide a three-year update to the CTE Summit held on February 15, 2012. The CTE Summit afforded 141 stakeholders an opportunity to discuss strategies to prepare students for the 21 st century. Individuals who attended the CTE Summit represented business, industry, institutions of higher education, community-based organizations, local & state government, PK-12 education, parents, and students. The information in this update highlights the progress our collaborative partnerships have made in advancing college, career and community readiness for every child, every day. Eighty individuals attended the CTE Summit Breakfast on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 to learn about the progress the Green Bay Area Public School District has made in the areas of college, career and community readiness to support the 21 st century workforce and the continued economic growth of Green Bay, the northeast Wisconsin region, and the state of Wisconsin. A number of collaborative partnerships have given our students opportunities to explore numerous career pathways in health care, manufacturing, engineering, home construction, automotive/transportation, and business and marketing, to name a few. The partnerships among key stakeholders have helped to define college, career and community readiness for Green Bay and the region. The CTE Summit Breakfast was catered by the students enrolled in the Culinary Arts 3 program at Preble High School. The students involved in this capstone program cater a number of public and private events throughout our community, taking full responsibility for menu planning, determining how much food is needed, purchasing, preparing the food, setting-up, serving, and 1
take down and clean-up for each event. The students involvement in the CTE Summit Breakfast was an example of a vibrant career pathway in the Green Bay Area Public School District. The CTE Summit Breakfast agenda included a welcome from Dr. Michelle Langenfeld, Superintendent, of the Green Bay Area Public School District. Dr. Langenfeld discussed the important role our community partners play in supporting our District mission of college, career and community readiness. Dr. Langenfeld also thanked our community partners for their role in supporting public education. Kim Pahlow, Associate Superintendent PK-16, and Lori Peacock, Career & Technical Education Partnerships and Program Coordinator, discussed why the District hosted the CTE Summit three years ago and the progress that has been made since 2012. Below are the highlighted pathways that have been developed or expanded with the District s collaborative partners. Green Bay Southwest High School and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) in the areas of welding, machining, robotics, graphic art & design, and general anatomy & physiology. Bay Link Manufacturing, a high-tech manufacturing lab at Green Bay West High School in partnership with the NEW Manufacturing Alliance and NWTC. The first-in-the-state Waste Water Management Youth Apprenticeship Program in partnership with NEW Water, the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce, UW-Green Bay, and NWTC. The Home Construction Program, located at Preble High School and West High School, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, Neighborworks Green Bay, Brown County Home Builders Association, and NWTC. City Stadium Automotive, an expanded automotive technician lab scheduled to open in the fall of 2015, in partnership with Broadway Automotive, Dorsch Ford Kia, Gandrud Automotive, Bergstrom Automotive, LeMieux Toyota, and NWTC. The Fine Arts Academy, in partnership with a number of local artists. 2
The District is involved in discussions with a number of business, industry, postsecondary and community-based organizations to support our students college, career and community. pathways. The future of career and technical education within the GBAPSD, the Green Bay community and the northeast Wisconsin region is very bright! NEXT STEPS CTE Summit Breakfast attendees also participated in small group discussions facilitated by Mike Friis, Director of Teaching and Learning. Discussion teams of 6-8 people were asked to share ideas with regard to what our next steps are to prepare students for the 21 st century with our eye on the 22 nd century. The discussions focused on four areas: community readiness, career readiness, college readiness, and indicators of continuous improvement. The discussion themes are outlined below. Community Readiness Diversity: understanding the diversity in the Green Bay area; increasing awareness of changing population trends in our area and the unique role everyone plays in our community; creating an appreciation for all cultures and ethnic groups that live and work in our community. Development: envisioning the future through understanding every individual plays a key role in sustaining a vibrant community; 3
increasing students awareness of everything the Green Bay area has to offer for them now and in the future (students need to see a reason to stay in Green Bay); creating a vested interest in our children in moving the community forward; ensuring community resources are linked to attracting and sustaining a work force; creating multiple opportunities to share talents with others to build a strong community. Community Care: linking students need to the community through volunteerism and servicelearning linked to academics and career interests; increasing students understanding of their role as a good citizen and citizenship; providing multiple opportunities for students to engage in the community; creating an understanding of and appreciation for sustaining the strong traditions in our community, working together to solve problems or challenges within our community. Career Readiness Exposure to Careers: establishing multiple career awareness and exploration opportunities for all students, from elementary school through high school and beyond; implementing career awareness programs at earlier ages; increasing students knowledge and skills in how to pursue and be successfully employed in a career interest area; building a strong academic base aligned to career and employability skills; developing the whole person. Employability Skills: increasing skills in the areas of verbal, written and interpersonal communication; critical thinking; problem solving; teamwork; conflict resolution; adapting to change; risk taking and innovative thinking; interpersonal skills; tenacity; ability to adapt to change; flexibility; passion; and lifelong learning ensuring culturally competency; partnering with employers to provide work-based learning opportunities, e.g. internships, value-added work experiences, work ethic. Understanding the Labor Market: increasing awareness of high demand careers locally and regionally; 4
understanding the post-high school training and/or education needed for high demand careers; understanding everyone s unique role in the global economy and global workforce and the ability to engage in a global environment. College Readiness Prepared to Attend College: o demonstrating maturity, self-motivation, self-discipline and preparedness for the rigor and demand of college and college life; personal discipline; time management; study skills; communication skills, including strong speaking skills; self-advocacy; self-regulated as a learner. o ability to persevere through failure and difficulties; independence; o academically ready for post-high school education pathway with no remediation; o understanding why and how you choose a post-secondary pathway. Understanding College Costs: understanding financial literacy; financial awareness of college costs so debt is not crippling; applying for scholarships and financial aid; creating an appreciation for how tuition and college costs will be spent and how it will be paid back; knowing how college debt is related to a future career and salary or earning over a lifetime. Know the End Goal: o applying and acceptance to college is the beginning of the process, not the end of the college-bound process; o starting the college readiness process with an end goal in mind; o securing some life experience before college to appreciate the process from high school graduation to college graduation to career; o preparing for college is a process that begins early (e.g., elementary school) and is founded on academic and career planning with school counselors, parents and teachers. 5
Indicators of Continuous Improvement Mark Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Continuous School Improvement, shared with attendees the plethora of measurements the Green Bay Area Public School District has in place to assess continuous improvement related to student learning. The discussion teams provided feedback on what the District should be monitoring as indicators of growth in achieving the District s mission. Community Perspectives: o impressions from parents, families, business & industry, community-based organizations with regard to students college, career and community readiness related to 21 st century and employability skills; o employer recommendations for increasing students employability/soft skills; o measure family involvement in schools; parent engagement; volunteer engagement Academics: o study skills to support academic rigor; o students who communicate short- and long-term goals; o effective teacher assessment; school culture; o post-secondary school data (acceptance/enrollment/dropout rates/completion dates); o student learning related to curriculum standards and benchmarks Work Readiness: o Employability skills; Work Keys; other career readiness indicators. Personal/Emotional: o Emotional IQ; emotional and social skills. THANK YOU The CTE Summit Breakfast gave our partners and stakeholders an opportunity to understand what the Green Bay Area Public School District has accomplished in the last three years since the CTE Summit. Our many partnerships with business, industry, post-secondary education, PK- 12 education, and local government has provided a solid foundation on which to build many new career pathway opportunities for our students. Career and technical education continues to be a vital component of our students academic and career planning. In 2012, Dr. Langenfeld closed the CTE Summit by saying that creating and sustaining high impact partnerships, identifying top priorities, and implementing strategies to maintain a progressive educational system and strong work force will result in the premium quality of life we desire for everyone in the Green Bay 6
community. The impressive progress we have made within our district and community in the past three years, thanks in large part to our collaborative partnerships, is proof we are making a positive difference in the lives of our students, their families and our community. For more information about career and technical education and the Green Bay Area Public School District, or if you are interested in a partnership with the school district, visit our website at www.gbaps.org and click on Education Customization. 7