CTE Technical Assistance Center of New York holds Framing Tomorrow Conference at MVHS

Career and Technical Education (CTE) educators and industry professionals gathered at Mount Vernon High School for a day full of networking and professional development. The CTE Technical Assistance Center of New York held its Framing Tomorrow Conference on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. Agriculture, health sciences and human services were the focus of this conference. 

The CTE Technical Assistance Center holds nine conferences throughout the year to connect CTE educators with resources and networking opportunities in the state. They chose MVHS, which has a strong CTE program with various graduation pathways, as its first conference location of the 2024-2025 school year. 

Steve Perry, regional field associate of the CTE Technical Assistance Center of New York State, organized the conference and selected Mount Vernon due to his familiarity with the school from working within the region and assisting with program approvals. He also believed that the school provided a quality representation of the content areas being discussed at the conference.

“The goal of the day is to bring teachers from throughout the state together in their respective content areas, so they have a time to meet with industry representation and postsecondary representation,” said Mr. Perry. “They then have a networking session where they can share with one another their teaching resources – lesson plans, project-based learning activities, their articulations, and any resources that would help one another within their classrooms.”

The conference started with an introduction from the Technical Assistance Center followed by guest speaker Cynthia Proctor, who is the Director of Communications and Academic Policy Development for the Office of the Provost at SUNY System Administration. She discussed new opportunities that are emerging to earn industry micro credentials such as certifications with SUNY that can benefit a student's path to career success.

Then, the CTE Technical Assistance Center demonstrated its database and held a discussion about articulation agreements, which allow students to gain credit at certain institutions. 

Panelists from within the industry and post-secondary institutions introduced themselves to the audience and fielded questions about how to support students in CTE. They also discussed industry-recognized credentials. 

Culinary arts students from MVHS then served lunch at the conference with food they made in their classes. Educators and industry professionals networked with each other while eating the student-made lunch.  

After lunch, the conference went on a tour of different CTE classes in MVHS to further discuss CTE education.

“The Framing Tomorrow Conference being held at MVHS is a coming out party to celebrate all of the incredible success the CTE Department has had over the past two years,” said Brian Simmons, Director of CTE. “We love this partnership with the Technical Assistance Center, and we’re so thrilled to be sharing ideas with CTE educators from around the state. It’s very exciting!”

The conference ended with a lesson-swapping session, and educators left with a wealth of knowledge about their programs as well as standards and expectations from the careers they are training students for. They also gained a number of new contacts from within their content areas in the New York State CTE community.