Rebranding Your CTE Program into a STEM Program (@STEMconnector)

Rebranding Your CTE Program into a STEM Program

Submitted by William Broman on June 12, 2013

On June 5th Universal Technical Institute National Director Jerry Ellner presented a Professional Development Workshop on “Rebranding Your CTE Program into a STEM Program” to over a 100 high school instructors at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Boston. The audience represented both career and technical educators and academic educators. The discussions included what STEM is and more importantly what it is not. The latest STEM career statistics were reviewed and discussed and several STEM related videos were shown. 

The educators were very receptive to the idea of Internal Field Trips (IFT) an idea that UTI has promoted to high schools nationwide.  This allows students in an academic environment the opportunity to visit CTE classes in their own high school to see live applications of what they are learning. The students visit Culinary Program to see chemical reactions in the baking of bread. They visit the auto shop to see 3-deimensional geometry displayed through a front end alignment and to learn how horsepower is calculated and they may go to the electrical shop to understand the algebraic equation used to determine Ohm’s law. There are so many examples of real life applications when educators share their skills and knowledge. “We cannot teach STEM in silo’s” workshop leader Jerry Ellner, National Director of High School Development for UTI, told the instructors. Many instructors began collaborating IFT’s before the workshop was completed. Several instructors coordinated with Boston admissions representative, Jose Santiago, for a STEM field trip to the UTI Norwood Campus to see STEM in action and actual problem-solving applications.  

The educators also learned about STEM and CTE grant opportunities.  A follow-up workshop is being discussed for the new school year. The educators left energized with some exciting new ideas to benefit their students. Madison Park is the only technical high school in Boston and they are always looking for way to bring new opportunities to their students. 

UTI, Universal Technical Institute is a STEM Transportation Post Secondary School with locations from coast to coast and offers complimentary workshops to educators and students nationwide. For more information email Jerry Ellner at Jellner@uti.edu.

f