CTE Month kicks into gear

Business Instrucor, Douglas Waters, speaks to campus community members during CTE Month.

By Samadhi Tedrow
Contributor

Science, technology, education, engineering—what do all of these fields have in common? In tandem, they establish the driving conglomerate of fields featured in WCC’s Career and Technical Education, or CTE, programs. For the month of February, WCC partakes in campus-wide CTE Month activities to celebrate those programs.

Feb. 3 marked the official start of CTE Month, in which WCC staff and students alike celebrate the cornerstone of the college’s technical department and its accredited success.

Director of CTE Month and CTE success coach Anthony Webster is overseeing the month’s activities, paired with Apryl Scheffler-Martin, WCC’s retention and completion specialist.

This is a chance for students to get involved, make connections, learn about CTE fields and get merch while doing so, Webster said.

“We have collaborated with more technical professionals than we had in the previous year,” said Webster. “Right now, we have 17 campus and community partners that are dedicated to our CTE Awareness month event.”

Elizabeth Connors, surgical technology program director, and Doug Waters, faculty chair of the business department, are a few of the faculty members participating in events, among other instructors.

“Humanizing faculty” in this event will further bridge the gap between students and professional understanding of health care, information technology, animation and more, Webster said.

Student-driven street teams will be set up outside the Student Center to inform the campus community about WCC’s CTE programs. Event organizers hope this will give prospective students a chance to understand the benefits of being in a CTE program, as well as what to expect when taking CTE classes.

An upcoming panel discussion will feature local industry leaders that specialize in hospitality, education, health science, marketing and other fields. The panel will take place on Feb. 13 in the Great Lakes building, in room 202 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m..

Awareness Hub exhibitions will take place, with different themes each day and stay active from 9 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m. for all non-major CTE days.