Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month provides a platform to showcase the Native American Career and Technical Education curriculum (NACTEP), Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education Program (NHCTEP) and the Tribal Control Vocational and Technical Post-Secondary Institutions Program (TCPCTIP) and their important role in building knowledge and skills in different areas for different communities. The 2023 CTE monthly theme is well reflected in the work of our Native American and Hawaiian CTE grantees (Perkins V), Celebrate Today, Own Tomorrow!
These two student profiles offer perspective on the diversity of CTE experiences in the learning journey.
Robi Lon: An NHCTEP participant at Windward Community College by LIKE ALU realizes the value of his internship in information technology. During each week of this internship, she covered the different jobs available, job descriptions, tools, daily tasks, career progressions, certifications and much more. Robi conducted many hands-on activities that provided valuable insight into different aspects of cybersecurity. Activities included support operations, post-mortem incident attack, quantum ransomware attack, network diagram creation, work with window servers and cloud engineering, management of project, human management. Robi has completed the Azure Fundamentals training offered by Microsoft. Robi said, “I really enjoyed…the hands-on experience where we had to complete an NMAP module on tryhackme.com as well as find a publicly disclosed vulnerability.” Robi concluded, “(a) After completing the ‘Ao Kahi x CBTS’ technology internship with Hawaiian Telcom, I gained an abundance of knowledge and techniques that could potentially be useful to me in my future career.”
Justin Forbes: A Cook Inlet Tribal Council A NACTEP graduate reports improved quality of life and expanded employment opportunities for his career as a result of his CTE training. Justin said his favorite part was the hands-on learning. Justin completed the Heavy Duty Diesel Mechanic program in 8 weeks. After graduating, he was hired at Red Dog Mine as an entry-level mechanic. In the future, he would like to do some commercial fishing, with the ultimate goal being to return to his village of Togiak to be the village mechanic so he can support his community by creating a road that helps hunters. Justin is grateful to have had this opportunity to receive support and concluded, “I now have a reliable base for my family, I see a future of learning, working, growing and earning vacations. I focus more about being a light in this world by being a better role model for my brothers, my cousins and my community.
Robi and Justin are just two examples of how CTE works for student career success. CTE educates the whole child and:
- provides not only classroom instruction by teachers with industry experience, but hands-on or experiential learning,
- adult mentorship opportunities through work-based learning (e.g. apprenticeships, internships, etc.),
- leadership opportunities through career and technical student organizations,
- application of basic skills to a career (e.g. technical writing, presentation skills, construction math, culinary science, economic application to a small business, etc.),
- earn industry certifications and/or credits toward associate or Bachelor’s degree, more
- building partnerships and networks to provide career opportunities and advance careers.
For more information on NACTEP, NHCTP, or TCPCTIP, contact Patti Beltram, Ed.D., patti.beltram@ed.gov.