CTAE Connector

The marathon that is the school year continues to see us set the pace as students in Pasco's career, technical and adult education programs are reaching their goals and truly learning that the sky is the limit!

This edition of "The CTAE Connector" features numerous stories about the innovative teaching and learning happening throughout the district. For many of our learners, this is also the time that they will be showing what they've mastered by earning industry certifications. Our team is not only supporting them and their teachers, but also working with school administrators as they prepare for the 2022-2023 school year. It is an honor to assist them as they prepare graduates to be college, career and life ready and meet the vision Pasco County Schools has for ALL students.

As always, we are "Preparing Today for Tomorrow's Workforce" and we appreciate your support of our students and schools!

Please feel free to contact us at 813-794-2204, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @PascoCTE!

Stay safe, keep it simple and be well,

Lori Romano, Ph.D.

Director, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education

Fred K. Marchman Technical College participated in the Chasco Fiesta Street Parade promoting CTE and Adult Education opportunities to the Pasco County Community! This was a great community outreach. You could hear people in the crowds yell, "We love Marchman!"

- submitted by Kim Dunn and Alicia Leary

On March 25, 2022, 33 Gulf High School NJROTC cadets went to MacDill AFB to watch the Navy Blue Angels Flight Demonstration team practice for the Air Show on Saturday and Sunday. The cadets were invited by the Commanding Officer to attend as Friends and Family of the Blue Angels. After watching the practice the cadets got to meet the pilots and take a photograph with them.

- submitted by John McGuire

The Air Force Junior ROTC instructors and cadets of River Ridge High School in New Port Richey, FL earned an overall unit assessment score of “Exceeds Standards" - the highest rating attainable - during their evaluation on February 28, 2022.

The review noted: "MSgt (Ret) Robert P. King and Lt Col (Ret) David J. Morgan, created a dynamic and supportive learning environment coupled with an excellent community outreach. The instructors provided outstanding leadership in administering the cadet centered citizenship program. The River Ridge Middle/High School cadets performed exceptionally well and took great pride in leading and accomplishing their unit goals. The River Ridge High School Air Force ROTC citizenship program is making a positive impact on the cadets, the school and the community."

Photo below: Cadets Mateo Bell, Emma Stanton and Makayla Bowers were recognized individually as Superior Performers.

- submitted by David Morgan

• Please share information about your program that you would like considered for the CTE monthly newsletter (photos, awards, events, certifications, etc.).

• Don't forget that you can email Pam Willoughby (pwilloug@pasco.k12.fl.us) with news and photos you want posted on our social media platforms at any time throughout the month.

Wiregrass Ranch High School students recently competed in the FBLA state leadership conference. We are very pleased to announce the state FBLA winners:

1st place in Introduction to Event Planning: Makenzie Jackson and Arianna Saez
3rd Place in E-Business: Emily Crespo, Victoria Figueroa
3rd Place on Computer Applications: Salvatore Basi
4th Place in 3D Animation: Anetta Diaz-Sanchez

Congratulations to each of our members for their accomplishments.

Each of these members are eligible for the national competition in April.

- submitted by Donna Fraser

Thank you Pasco Foundation for the “calming strategies” wristbands recently donated to students at Thomas E. Weightman Middle School. These are encouraging many scholars. We have been learning and putting into practice the Golden Rule lately in Wildcat Country.

- submitted by Jenna Eyers

Future educators in the River Ridge New Teacher Academy joined forces with non-profit Marjorie's Hope to raise funds to support both organizations at their "Fashion Revolution Luncheon" on April 2nd. The successful event included a fashion show, lunch, gift basket raffle, silent auction, 50/50 raffle and a pop-up shop on site at the Seven Springs Country Club. Workplace wardrobes were modeled by the students, as well as School Board members Colleen Beaudoin and Megan Harding, and Assistant Superintendent for Support Services Betsy Kuhn.

Community partner Paul Friedlander and NTA alum Raynee Meek emceed the extravaganza.

Pictured above: Fashion show models gather in front of guests at the end of the show.

Pictured right: Teacher Beth Hess coordinated the event with Debi Shackowsky, founder of Marjorie's Hope.

Pictured below: RRHS New Teacher Academy students pose in front of the Pasco County Schools' CTE STEM Bus during their teach-in day at Moon Lake Elementary on March 24th.

Royal Robotics, located at River Ridge High School, recently competed in the First Robotics Competition, at regionals in Miami and Pittsburgh. During a six-week build period, students learned important aspects of the engineering design process and teamwork. For this year's game, students were posed with the challenge of shooting a 9 ½ inch ball into a goal located in the center of the field in order to score points. Students were also challenged to find a way to hang and climb upon a structure in order to receive more points.

The team started the build period by making designs for prototypes, on paper and using specialized software. After testing prototypes and finalizing our designs, we began work on making a CAD model of the design, and from there began manufacturing parts. Our robots are often made of specialized parts cut on a variety of machinery from bandsaws to CNC routers, combined with some off-the-shelf metal pieces and electronics. For the design, our team went with an over-the-bumper intake and a tall shooter. These aspects made it easier to acquire and shoot the ball into the goal. We then moved onto refining robot code, electrical aspects and fixing design flaws to make sure that the robot was to work as planned.

At the end of the build period, the team competed in the South Florida Regional in Week 1. During Week 3, the team also traveled to the Greater Pittsburgh Regional in Pennsylvania. Members of the team spent several days at each competition; there were robotics students working the pits repairing the bot after every match, along with other members scouting for vital

information to help with alliance selections.

At competitions, we competed efficiently and were a high-scoring team. Through this we earned the placement of 8th out of 33 teams in the South Florida Regional and 31st out of 47 teams in the Greater Pittsburgh Regional. Overall, our team learned a lot from competing this FRC season and made many achievements.

- submitted by Royal Robotics students

Congratulations to the Land O' Lakes High School Academy of Culinary Arts team whose winning dessert was served to 240 people at the Pasco Education Foundation's annual fundraising gala on Saturday night!

The delicious dessert included white chocolate mousse, chocolate mousse and Nutella mousse filling on a bed of Oreo cookie crumbles, an Oreo cookie truffle with Nutella sauce, topped off with edible 14k gold leaf. What an incredible effort by these young chefs and their teachers, Jessica Cooper and Jeremy Blythe!

Professional Culinary Arts & Hospitality students at Marchman Technical College recently prepared and served the lunch for Leadership Pasco. Students did a great job problem solving challenges to make it a success!

Pictured above: MTC Culinary Arts students, with Leadership Pasco participant, Pasco School Board members, Superintendent Browning and his senior leadership team, and MTC administrators Tonia Shook and Alicia Leary

The Cypress Creek High School's Criminal Justice Florida Public Service Association Competition Team went to the state competition with over 100 other Criminal Justice students from the State of Florida. The team of 12 students received trophies in 21 different categories of events within the Public Service field. CCHS placed first in the Brain Bowl, Emergency Go Kit, Prepared Poster, Composite Drawing, and Latent Fingerprint Comparison. They were lead by their teachers, Jerrell Hardy and Jessica Herzek.

Congratulations to these students:
Faith Welling • Ty Guzina • Jackson Hudson
Kaprian Abril • Alanis Santiago-Roman • Mazz Khan
Jayliz Ruiz-Pabon • Michael Obregon • Chloe Howell
Reese McTiernan • Aubrey Wallace • Skylar Hudson

The Adult English learners at Wesley Chapel continued to gain more and more confidence with the material and with each other. Students excelled in "teaching others" a skill/talent as the class came alive with projects such as salsa dancing and origami creation. (See pictures)

We had 2 big events in March right before spring break. First we had our scavenger hunt at the Grove Mall. Students were divided into groups to scour the mall in search of the answers to questions. They were forced to practice their English with the salespersons which provided quite a challenge. More than 30 students participated in this exciting and thought-provoking activity, and all agreed that it was a glorious time for everyone. (see pictures)

On March 11th, once again, we had our classes at the Wesley Chapel District Park which turned out to be a fun and educational experience for everyone. Three former ESOL students, Jennifer Guan, Mario Godinez, and Maria Lomeli, returned as guest speakers to engage the new students as they discussed their language learning backgrounds and their recent success after English classes. (see pictures). Belen Quinones played the guitar and led the whole group in a rousing rendition of "What's Going On?" (see picture) Around 30 students participated in various games to practice more English. (see winners in the picture). What an amazing March it was for all!!

- submitted by Rebecca Sandy

Email: lmromano@pasco.k12.fl.us
Website: http://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/cte/
Location: 7227 Land O' Lakes Boulevard, Land O Lakes, FL, USA
Phone: 813-794-2011
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pascoschools/
Twitter: @PascoCTE