Oklahoma CareerTech is known for being nimble and flexible, quickly adapting to the needs of industry in Oklahoma. In addition to 29 technology centers across the state, Oklahoma CareerTech provides training through 391 PK-12 school districts, 15 Skills Centers, 32 Adult Education and Family Literacy providers and Work-Based Learning programs.
The Oklahoma CareerTech System continues to grow as it offers educational programs to Oklahomans of all ages.
The CareerTech System is celebrating CareerTech Education Month in February. Gov. Kevin Stitt recently issued a proclamation declaring this month as Career and Technical Education Appreciation Month in Oklahoma.
“We strive every day to provide students with skills demanded by the labor market in Oklahoma,” said CareerTech State Director Brent Haken. “Bringing innovation to Oklahoma education is core to Oklahoma CareerTech’s mission to help students explore their interests and businesses meet their workforce needs.”
In Oklahoma, enrollment in CareerTech programs is up across the board, and memberships in CareerTech student organizations such as FFA and HOSA rose 20% in FY 2022 to 95,390 members. The increase in enrollments and CTSO memberships, Haken said, reflect a growing realization of the value of a CareerTech education and the need for curricula that emphasize career readiness.
“CareerTech programs and student organizations are designed to simultaneously provide students skills demanded in the labor market while preparing them for postsecondary degrees,” Haken said. “In addition to specific career-oriented classes, students are offered opportunities that include internships, apprenticeships and in-school programs aimed at fostering work readiness.”
Oklahoma CareerTech achievements in the past year include being named a CyberPatriot Center of Excellence by the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot program in May. Participation in the Oklahoma CyberPatriot program has more than doubled under CareerTech’s leadership.
CareerTech began a partnership with Express Employment Professionals and the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development to create more work-based learning opportunities for students. Students in the program are employed by Express and serve as contract employees for worksite employers, reducing liability for employers and opening more opportunities for students.
CareerTech also launched Get Skilled Now, an online platform that allows students and employers to find each other for work-based learning opportunities.
Also in the past year, Oklahoma CareerTech received $8.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to expand programs to address the state’s nursing workforce shortage, $5 million to create a program to train broadband infrastructure installation workers and $6.2 million to expand its truck driver training program. CareerTech awarded $4.5 million to schools, technology centers and educators in lottery grants and scholarships.
CareerTech serves nearly half a million students through a network of 391 school districts, 29 technology centers, 15 skills centers and 32 adult education and family literacy providers. CareerTech also serves Oklahomans through its business and industry programs.
Enrollment in the 29 technology center districts was 298,675 in FY 2022. Enrollment in CareerTech courses in PK-12 schools totaled 127,875 in FY 2022, with 83,580 students in ninth through 12th grades enrolled in CareerTech classes.
In FY 2022, more than 95,000 students participated in CareerTech’s seven co-curricular CTSOs: Business Professionals of America, DECA, Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, FFA, HOSA, SkillsUSA and Technology Student Association.
More than 8,900 people enrolled in adult education and family literacy classes offered by 32 providers around Oklahoma; the courses help adults become literate, earn their high school equivalencies and obtain the skills necessary for employment.
The Skills Centers School System enrolled 1,045 adult and juvenile offenders in FY 2022, and more than 95% of those who completed training found jobs with an average hourly wage of $14.64.
In addition to teaching individuals through technology centers, skills centers, PK-12 schools and adult education and family literacy programs, Oklahoma CareerTech also provides customized training and other services to companies in the state to help them increase profitability.
In FY 2022, CareerTech served 6,671 companies through entrepreneurial development, firefighter training, customized industry, safety training, adult and career development, training for industry and OkAPEX Accelerators. The TIP program helped companies locate in Oklahoma and provided training for 2,941 new jobs, and OkAPEX helped state companies secure 1,775 federal, state, local and tribal government contracts valued at $392,442,455.
CareerTech Conversations recently sat down with Scott Nemecek, state program administrator for FFA and agricultural education, who shared Oklahoma students’ recent accolades from the national FFA convention.
He also discussed the impact of agriculture on Oklahoma’s economy and how ag educators are preparing students for success in industry and daily life.
See the video on Oklahoma CareerTech’s YouTube channel and learn more about agricultural education on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
Oklahoma FFA returned from the 95th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis with one national officer, nine national championships and numerous other awards.
The National FFA Convention celebrates FFA members from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The convention includes individual award and degree recognition, chapter award recognition, official delegate business and national officer elections.
Karstyn Cantrell, Skiatook, became Oklahoma FFA’s 23rd national officer when she was elected the Central Region vice president.
National champion honors went to Caleb Horne, Morrison, Prepared Public Speaking Leadership Development Event; Tuttle FFA, Livestock Judging Career Development Event; Luke Gallagher, Altus, Beef Production – Entrepreneurship National Proficiency Award; Raigan McKee, Oologah, Agriscience Research – Animal Systems National Proficiency Award; Esther Van-Overbeke, Stillwater, National Agriscience Fair Division 1: Food Products and Processing Systems; Trinity Blosch and Aubie McEndoo, Stillwater, National Agriscience Fair Division 4: Food Products and Processing Systems; Kaylee McAlister, Stillwater, National Agriscience Fair Division 3: Power, Structural and Technical Systems; Lauren Crosthwait, Stillwater, National Agriscience Fair Division 1: Social Science; and Emily Meridith and Emma Nelson, National Agriscience Fair Division 6: Social Science.
Oklahoma FFA also brought home eight other gold emblem awards: four second place, one third place, one sixth place, one seventh place and one eighth place. Seven Oklahomans were in the national chorus, eight were in the band, 189 received the American FFA Degree and 36 Oklahoma chapters were named National Three Star Chapters.
“We are incredibly proud of our FFA members and all they have accomplished on the national level. All of the success nationally tells me a lot of teaching and learning is happening in our agricultural education classrooms all around the state. It’s a ground effort and a true testament to our excellent instructors, awesome students and committed stakeholders,” said Trevor Lucas, state FFA executive secretary.
Recipients of the Honorary American FFA Degree were Holly Carroll, Oklahoma City; Daryl Flanders, Okemah; Amanda Jones, Ketchum; Jeremy Schmidt, Edmond; and Kourtney Victery and Joe Victery, both of Chickasha.
Oklahoma FFA ranks sixth in total membership and had 14 national delegates.
FFA is one of seven CareerTech student organizations affiliated with CareerTech programs. It is affiliated with agricultural education. The other six are FCCLA (family and consumer sciences education), DECA (marketing education), SkillsUSA (trade and industrial education), Business Professionals of America (business and information technology education), Technology Student Association (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and HOSA (health careers education).
About Oklahoma CareerTech
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education provides leadership and resources and assures standards of excellence for a comprehensive statewide system of career and technology education. The system offers programs and services in 29 technology center districts operating on 60 campuses, 391 PK-12 school districts, 15 Skills Centers campuses that include three juvenile facilities and 32 adult education and family literacy service providers.
The agency is governed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education and works closely with the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education to provide a seamless educational system for all Oklahomans.
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education continues to respond to the needs of individuals and business and industry in the state while focusing on helping Oklahomans succeed in life, education and the workplace.
The Oklahoma CareerTech System is celebrating CareerTech Education Month in February. Gov. Kevin Stitt recently issued a proclamation declaring this month as Career and Technical Education Appreciation Month in Oklahoma.
“Oklahoma CareerTech is an integral part of Oklahoma’s economy,” said Marcie Mack, ODCTE state director. “By providing individuals with the education, training and skills necessary to be successful in their careers, CareerTech is also providing companies with the quality workforces they need to compete globally.”
The CareerTech System delivers educational experiences through a network of 394 PK-12 school districts, 29 technology center districts, 13 skills center sites in correctional facilities and 31 adult education and family literacy providers.
CareerTech continued building partnerships with other state agencies, industries and nonprofit organizations to expand its programs.
ODCTE signed a memorandum of understanding with the Film Education Institute of Oklahoma to provide training and curriculum to meet film industry employment demands in the state. The system’s technology centers have developed film career training programs for students who want to work as film and television production professionals.
The CareerTech Testing Center and the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety partnered in 2021 to offer Class D written driver’s license and motorcycle license tests through CTTC’s network of test facilities. They are now expanding to offer written tests for commercial driver’s licenses.
CareerTech’s Skills Centers School System received a grant to open a new skills center at the Northeast Oklahoma Community Corrections Center in Vinita. It also saw the first class of female inmates graduate from a truck driver training class.
Skills centers operate in Oklahoma’s correctional and juvenile detention facilities to give incarcerated individuals the opportunity to learn the skills they’ll need to make successful transitions to the workplace.
CareerTech’s 29 technology centers operate on 59 campuses throughout the state. High school students can attend the technology centers in their districts for free, learning skills that will help them land good jobs after school and also position them to continue their education after graduation. Adult students learn new skills and earn certificates and credentials to get jobs, change careers or advance in their current careers.
Oklahoma’s PK-12 school districts offer CareerTech courses in agricultural education; business and information technology education; family and consumer sciences education; health careers education; marketing education; science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and trade and industrial education.
Their students also can learn leadership skills as members of co-curricular CareerTech student organizations: FFA; Family, Careers and Community Leaders of America; SkillsUSA; Technology Student Association; Business Professionals of America; HOSA; and DECA.
CareerTech’s Business and Industry Services Division helps Oklahoma companies increase their profitability with increased sales, higher productivity, reduced costs and expanded operations and helps companies move to and start up in Oklahoma. Oklahoma PTAC helps companies secure government contracts.
The CareerTech System helps those who dropped out of high school earn diplomas and gain skills to enter the workforce through the dropout recovery program and also oversees Oklahoma’s adult education and family literacy program, which offers high school equivalency programs and tests along with English literacy and civics courses.
About Oklahoma CareerTech
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education provides leadership and resources and assures standards of excellence for a comprehensive statewide system of career and technology education. The system offers programs and services in 29 technology center districts operating on 59 campuses, 394 PK-12 school districts, 13 Skills Centers campuses that include three juvenile facilities and 31 adult basic education service providers.
The agency is governed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education and works closely with the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education to provide a seamless educational system for all Oklahomans.
For more than 100 years, Oklahoma CareerTech has been connecting students and businesses with training opportunities that help Oklahomans find rewarding careers and support Oklahoma industries. Our goal is to develop a world-class workforce for Oklahoma employers and prepare Oklahomans to succeed in the workplace, in education and in life.
The Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training recognized Oklahoma CareerTech employee Craig Maile this week for his service on the curriculum review board.
Maile represented the Oklahoma CareerTech System on the board since 2007. The board made a presentation to him at its meeting Tuesday.
“Serving on the curriculum review board has been an honor for me. Several family members have served in law enforcement, including a sister who is a CLEET academy graduate,” said Maile, manager of Oklahoma CareerTech’s Resource Center for CareerTech Advancement. “Offering advice to CLEET on their curriculum made me feel that I was contributing to the larger mission of the law enforcement community.”
CLEET’s curriculum review board establishes curriculum for all CLEET academies and training courses. Members of the board come from law enforcement, higher education and Oklahoma CareerTech.
Oklahoma CareerTech and CLEET began their partnership in 1987 when the Oklahoma State Department of Vocational and Technical Education (now Oklahoma CareerTech) developed curriculum to train security guards and private investigators.
That was also when Maile began his work with CLEET.
“I was a new technical writer at the state agency in Stillwater at that time and was assigned the task of writing the first editions of the curriculum with CLEET,” he said.
As a state authority on law enforcement training, CLEET set the direction for the curriculum with input from industry advisory committees, Maile said. Oklahoma CareerTech handled the writing, editing and printing. The draft curriculum was field-tested in CareerTech classes, and teachers from around the state attended workshops to learn how to deliver it. A free online train-the-trainer course eventually took the place of in-person workshops.
The CareerTech Testing Center also offers CLEET certification testing for private security and bail enforcement and processes the results and administers the Oklahoma Peace Officer Screening and Selection Exam, which individuals take before entering basic law enforcement and reserve basic law enforcement academies.
Oklahoma CareerTech’s partnership with CLEET offers opportunities to increase Oklahoma’s workforce in law enforcement, criminal justice and security careers, said Marcie Mack, CareerTech state director.
“Technology centers statewide have experienced significant demand for programs in these pathways in recent years,” she said. “Basic peace officer certification is available at four technology centers, and there are 19 criminal justice programs across the state. CLEET and CareerTech are working together to offer additional training throughout the 29 technology center districts. This includes training for dispatch, jailer and other career pathways.”
Mack nominated Marshall McDonald of Central Technology Center in Drumright to take Maile’s spot on the curriculum review board.
Gov. Kevin Stitt has proclaimed November as Oklahoma CareerTech Skills Centers Month.
The CareerTech Skills Centers School System specializes in the delivery of career and technology education to inmates under the supervision of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and to juveniles under the supervision of the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs.
It got its start in February 1971 as the inmate training division of the Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education, now the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. We are proud to help these individuals learn the skills they need to transition to jobs and life outside prison.
Learn more about the system in a video, “Life Beyond Bars,” and in a column by State Director Marcie Mack in the Journal Record.
A qualified workforce is critical to the state’s economic well-being and will be vital to its recovery following the pandemic. Oklahoma CareerTech, which has long been a major component of Oklahoma’s economic engine, will play a starring role in this recovery.
Through a network of 399 PK-12 school districts, 29 technology center districts, 13 skills center sites and 32 adult basic education providers, the strengths of Oklahoma’s CareerTech System include accessibility and flexibility.
Through partnerships with business and industry, Oklahoma CareerTech has responded quickly to the state’s immediate workforce needs by providing customized career training in a wide range of industries, including health care, agriculture, aerospace and energy.
Read more in CareerTech State Director Marcie Mack’s guest column in The Journal Record.
Oklahoma CareerTech’s STEM program manager recently received an award for her work promoting STEM education.
The Air Force Association Central Oklahoma Gerrity Chapter presented Tonja Norwood with the Gerrity Chapter President’s STEM Education Award.
Norwood has been the program manager for science, technology, engineering and mathematics education at the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education since 2018. She previously served as an information technology program specialist in ODCTE’s Business, Marketing and Information Technology Education Division.
“Tonja has been instrumental in expanding STEM educational opportunities across the state,” said Marcie Mack, CareerTech state director. “Her dedication and leadership are vital to the success of our students, educators and future workforce. Tonja is very deserving of this award and recognition from AFA. We are honored to partner with them for the betterment of our state.”
Oklahoma CareerTech has partnered with the AFA Central Oklahoma Gerrity Chapter to provide CyberPatriot and StellarXplorers, providing classroom space and equipment, volunteer instructors and more, said Janelle Stafford, president of the chapter.
“Because of CareerTech’s involvement, we have had a much wider and more pervasive reach for both programs,” Stafford said. “Tonja has been at the very heart of all of this with our chapter. She knows these programs inside and out. She put in the time to get both programs certified as curriculum for Oklahoma Promise credits. Most recently, she undertook the certification training for the STK software used in StellarXplorers just so she would understand it better — not an easy thing to do!”
Norwood is also leading an effort to establish a train-the-trainer summer camp for StellarXplorers and is involved in both CyberPatriot and StellarXplorer student camps this summer, Stafford said. The AFA chapter wanted to do something to show its appreciation for Norwood’s support, so it created the Gerrity Chapter President’s STEM Education Award, Stafford said.
“With the support of Tonja and CareerTech, the Gerrity Chapter will continue to grow STEM education in our state and invest in our future workforce,” she said.
About Oklahoma CareerTech
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education provides leadership and resources and assures standards of excellence for a comprehensive statewide system of career and technology education. The system offers programs and services in 29 technology center districts operating on 59 campuses, 399 PK-12 school districts, 13 Skills Centers campuses that include three juvenile facilities and 32 adult basic education service providers.
The agency is governed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education and works closely with the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education to provide a seamless educational system for all Oklahomans.