The CTAE Connector

As we step into a new year, we are excited about the fresh opportunities it brings for growth and collaboration. This is a time to reflect on our achievements, celebrate our students' performance and growth, and set new goals for the future.

February is CTE Month, a special time to celebrate the value of Career & Technical Education and recognize the outstanding achievements of our programs, faculty, and students. CTE instruction is crucial in preparing students for high-wage, high-demand careers. In Pasco County, our dedicated CTE faculty and staff foster collaborative and innovative learning environments that equip students for meaningful careers in a diverse and ever-changing world.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our CTE teachers for their unwavering dedication and passion. Your commitment to fostering innovative and collaborative learning environments is instrumental in preparing our students for high-wage, high-demand careers. Your efforts not only equip students with the skills they need for success but also inspire them to reach their full potential. Thank you for your hard work, creativity, and the positive impact you make every day in shaping the future of our students and our community.

Each and every day, we are "Preparing Today for Tomorrow's Workforce," and we can only do this with your support and dedication to our students and schools!

Please feel free to contact us at 813-794-2204 and follow Pasco County Schools!

Stay safe, keep it simple, and be well,

Lori Romano, Ph.D.

Director, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education

Click the photo below to take the Regional Business Survey

MIDFLORIDA Credit Union is a not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution based in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1954 as the Polk County Teachers Credit Union, it has grown significantly and now operates over 60 branches across the state.

MIDFLORIDA Credit Union is deeply committed to supporting schools and education in the communities they serve. Through their Extra Credit for Schools program, members can earn rewards for their chosen school with every debit card purchase made using the credit option. Each transaction contributes 10¢ to the selected school, providing a simple way for members to support local education. Additionally, MIDFLORIDA offers the Gift of Reading program, where volunteers read to kindergarten students and provide books to both students and school libraries.

Thank you MidFlorida for your commitment to supporting our schools!

On January 24, AmSkills hosted their annual Manufacturing Banquet. We would like to extend a huge thanks to Dr. Legg for sponsoring two of our incredible CTE students who were recognized at this dinner.

Jason Duong, a third-year Advanced Manufacturing student at Anclote High School, attended the event with his father and sister. Jason was honored with this year’s High School Excellence Award. His exemplary leadership, dedication to the Ignite curriculum, outstanding project performance, and academic success truly set him apart. As a leader in the AmSkills program, Jason has inspired over 100 of his peers by consistently leading by example.

Ballvyn "Bel" Manuel, a junior Engineering student from River Ridge High School, was recognized with this year’s Outstanding Youth Intern Award. Bel attended the event with her proud parents. Her remarkable dedication, curiosity, and passion have shone throughout her internship at AmSkills. Bel aspires to become an engineer and has set her sights on attending the University of Florida to pursue her dreams.

We are deeply grateful for your support, which made this memorable night possible for our students and their families.

Submitted by Dr. Lori Romano

This event is designed to expose and educate our graduating students on postsecondary options, including career certificate programs, immediate employment opportunities, apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and military pathways. We are adding some additional exciting opportunities for our student participants!

We will be extending invitations to our business and community partners to share information and materials at a table, participate in career panel discussions, assist students with resume writing and interview skills, and much more.

Please be on the lookout for our flyer and registration information. Feel free to reach out with any questions to Jenny Batchelor at jbatchel@pasco.k12.fl.us.

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Event Dates & Locations:

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Cypress Creek High School

8701 Old Pasco Hwy, Wesley Chapel, Florida

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 17, 2025

Hudson High School

14410 Cobra Way, Hudson, Florida

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

The Congressional App Challenge is an annual competition aimed at encouraging middle and high school students in the United States to learn coding and develop their own apps. It is hosted by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and is designed to inspire students to pursue careers in computer science and STEM fields.

Students who participate in the Congressional App Challenge are recognized by their Member of Congress and have their apps displayed in the U.S. Capitol. Participants have the opportunity to interact with peers, mentors, and industry professionals that may open doors to internships, scholarships, and further educational opportunities. This challenge aims to inspire students from diverse backgrounds to explore and excel in technology.

Congratulations to Keertana Shankar Ganesh and Rishika Shankar Ganesh, students at Angeline Academy of Innovation, for winning this year’s Congressional App Challenge. Their submission, the Plan-It App, will help users hone their time management skills. In a world with many distractions, this app could be a real benefit to many.

The Innovation Station opened its doors for the annual AmSkills Community Block Party on December 14. West Pasco families enjoyed hands on activities, like our aviation simulators, Pasco Sheriff K-9's and Robotic Dog, meeting Santa and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Thunderbug. A full day of family fun, food trucks, entertainment and connections with community organizations was enjoyed by all who attended!

Thank you, AmSkills, for allowing us to promote STEM and CTE through your event.

Submitted by Nikki Sundsmo

The 1st annual FAFSA Frenzy event was held at Cypress Creek High School. Senior students and parents were provided financial aid information prior to this event and students created the required FSA ID in classes. A huge thank you to Career Specialist, Cassie Adley, as well as School Counselors, Kristen Leonard and Cassie Caminero, as they supported over 120 students throughout the day to complete and submit their portion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid!

Submitted by Jenny Batchelor

The Innovation Station (previously STEM Bus) is Pasco County School’s mobile career-connected STEM experience that exposes students and community members of all ages to STEM and CTE Education. Our Innovation Station is equipped with Stem Pilot Edustations that allow students a simulated flight experience, as well as STEM challenges that are aligned with elementary and middle school Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This opportunity has been instrumental in fostering teamwork skills and revealing potential career pathways for students' future endeavors.

Thank you to West Zephyrhills Elementary School and San Antonio Elementary School for providing this unique and engaging experience to their students in January.

Submitted by Taylor Constantino

Zephyrhills Jr. FFA President, Mikayla Mis, was awarded Student Citizen of the Month from the Zephyrhills Police Department. We are proud of you, Mikayla, for all of your hard work and dedication to our community.

Submitted by Leanne John

Pasco County Schools Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department prides itself on the Work-Based Learning options available to all students. Work-Based Learning (WBL) is an interaction with industry or community professionals in real workplace settings, or simulated environments at an educational institution that foster in-depth, firsthand engagement with the tasks required of a given career field, that are aligned to curriculum and instruction. Work-Based Learning is broken down into three separate areas- Career Awareness, Career Exploration, and Work-Based Learning.

• Career Awareness begins as early as elementary school. Elementary students are exposed to career exploration through Guest Speakers, Great American Teach In, and Career Fairs.
• Career Exploration begins in middle school where students are given the opportunity to attend Business and Industry Tours and Field Trips.
• Work-Based Learning is implemented through a more hands on approach. Students in Secondary and Post-Secondary programs participate in Internships, OJT, Simulated Learning, and more.

For more information regarding Work-Based Learning, please reach out to

Angel Hernandez at ahernand@pasco.k12.fl.us.

Pasco’s Agriculture Programs are receiving Land Lab Reviews by Mr. Tim Edwards. The review assesses facility conditions, resource utilization, and infrastructure needs to ensure alignment with curriculum goals and enhance student learning.

The process will help update program priorities and submit strategic funding requests for both capital improvements (facilities, equipment) and non-capital needs (curriculum resources, professional development) ahead of the budget season.

Without an in-house Agriculture specialist, a grant has enabled us to hire an external reviewer, Mr. Edwards, with over 30 years of experience as a high school Florida Agriculture teacher.

So far, he has conducted reviews of TEWMS, HAC, HHS, PMS, and PHS. The reviews were completed at the end of January.

Thank you, Mr. Edwards, for your commitment to Pasco County's Agriculture Programs!

Submitted by Nikki Sundsmo

Members of the Zephyrhills Future Farmers Association (FFA) returned from the new year to welcome the first calf of 2025!

Submitted by Leanne John

Senior Officers, Sarah and Andriana, are Co-Chairs of the ZHS FFA Quarter 2 Community Service Project- A Barnyard Christmas. They visited St Joseph’s Children Hospital to leave bags for nurses to pass out. They collected Agriculture literacy & educational materials, interactive activities, & some other fun things. The FFA Officers also included a stuffed animal, and a QR code. Children and families can scan the QR code and it will send them to a website that teaches them about how they rely on agriculture and livestock!

Submitted by Leanne John

Building Construction students from Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation utilized skills learned in class to create this beautiful dog house. This project is another example of the hands-on, real-world experiences offered at Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation.

Submitted by Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation

KI KATI (means "how are you?" in Lugnadan). Students learned about Uganda and food forests involved with a real world project. They gained an understanding of how one person can make a big difference with passion and dedication doing what they love.
Marchman Commercial Art students recently created a logo for a food forest all the way in Uganda, Africa! After submitting their designs, one was chosen and put on shirts, as well as then engraved on the marker sign. The shirts and will be used for years in the future.
The Robert and Barbara Shaw Memorial Food Forest is a project by Kathy Johnson to create a sustainable tree farm growing Breadfruit and many other fruit trees. People from near and far will visit at the hostel, enjoy a library and learn about feeding people in their village and the science of farming. Kathy has been volunteering in Uganda for over 20 years and adopted many children. Her philosophy about giving children opportunities in their homeland and not relocating people, has beared wonderful "fruit". One of her adopted children has become a doctor, some are in the medical field, a granddaughter is even in school to be a female pilot! A grand opening and ribbon cutting, medical clinic event was recently held with hundreds of people and even government officials in attendance.

It was exciting for students to be involved and have a direct connection with another culture halfway across our planet!

Submitted by Linda Bourne

Students from the Digital Media Program at Kirkland Ranch had the opportunity to showcase their newly learned skills in Adobe Animate. Students were tasked to create an animation that utilized some of the features they previously learned.

Submitted by Haley Neuhausen

This year, there are over 950 FBLA members in our District. On January 15, they came together to present their business case studies, findings, analytics, and much more. Professional business individuals from Pasco County came to Mitchell High School to judge the students and give them feedback. Students also competed in online objective test the day prior. The award ceremony was held at River Ridge high school where about 500 FBLA members qualified for states!

Submitted by Allison Kaelin

Ms. Schweigert's and Ms. Fraser's Digital Information Technology classes participated in the KeyMaster Keyboarding Competition from December 9-13. In this event, students competed against students across the country from 63 different schools in various individual (by grade) and team events including typing sprints from 1-5 minutes, typing code and many more. Wiregrass Ranch received 65 awards!

Submitted by Jennifer Schweigert

AdventHealth University (AHU) is a healthcare-focused institution that offers a variety of degree and certificate programs. Located in Orlando, Florida, with additional campuses in Denver and Tampa, AHU provides both online and on-campus learning options.

The university is affiliated with AdventHealth, which allows students to gain hands-on experience and direct contact with healthcare professionals. AHU's programs cover fields such as nursing, biomedical sciences, healthcare administration, imaging sciences, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, and spiritual care.

Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation's Juniors and Seniors experienced this unique opportunity at AHU. Students were given a tour of their facility and were able to interact with industry professionals while they learned what AHU offers and how it can help them towards their Health Care journey.

Submitted by Jackie Tellez

HOSA Students from Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation had 22 competitors who will move on from regionals to the state-wide HOSA competition. Several members will be recognized with awards for community service and other events, such as school blood drives.

Congratulations to KRAI HOSA!

Submitted by Jackie Tellez

Land O Lakes High School's Academy of Culinary Arts students were learning about sustainability and how to avoid food waste in a restaurant. They made smoothie recipes to use up plant-based milks from another assignment and fruits and vegetables we already had in house. The concept was to reuse ingredients and create something new.

Submitted by Jessica Cooper

On December 7th, the GPS Robotics Team from Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation attended the Kraken Klash at Wendell Krinn Technical High School.

With the GPS Robotics team finishing up their robots and making necessary improvements, ample time for practice and last minute changes gave the team everything they needed to give this competition their best shot. Both teams gave a thrilling performance with each team qualifying and placing in the quarter finals in the final bracket.

This competition at Wendell Krinn Technical High School proved to be a challenge to the GPS Robotics team. Running into teams such as 550G Goofy Goobers and 6260A Mercury, both established and skillful VEX teams, provided major roadblocks to the GPS Robotics team. Nonetheless, VEX teams from the GPS Robotics teams gave this competition their all, placed high, and above all had fun.

In result of our great performance and display of team spirit and energy at the Kraken Klash, the GPS Robotics team is now the proud owner of a VEX Energy Award! While team 89768A (The Viltrumites) is the VEX team who won the award, the GPS Robotics team as a whole contributed in every way to earn this award. All of the hard work put in by every team member, whether they built the robot or they helped keep the tension between team members to a minimum, has been recognized and this is an achievement that we take pride in.

*This article was written and published by Adam Minchala, Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation, GPS Robotics Team Member*

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Click here to follow along with KRAI's GPS Robotics Team.

The Criminal Justice students from Cypress Creek High School participated and assisted with crowd control and parking enforcement during their annual Howl-A-Bration, a celebration of the Coyote Honor Roll. Parking enforcement students looked for suspicious activity, vehicles with no parking passes, and vehicles that are improperly parked. Students then write citations and call the violations into partner students who act as call takers. The call takers enter the violations into a database where the CCHS admin team and SDA's can track the activity for each violation.

Submitted by William Elders

Students in the Criminal Justice program at Fivay High School had the opportunity to interact with Fivay's School-Resource Officer, Corporal Padilla. Students observed Corporal Padilla while he demonstrated come-along holds. A come-along hold is a self-defense technique, often used by Law Enforcement, where a person grabs the wrist of a suspect and applies pressure to control their movement, essentially guiding their arm in a desired direction.

Submitted by Denis Riel

Criminal Justice Police Operations students stayed warm this winter by building their defensive tactics expertise, in satisfaction of course standards and benchmarks. Students are actively and slowly learning to conduct their first takedown move, the single arm takedown.

Submitted by Denis Riel

To share information about your program that you would like considered for the CTAE monthly newsletter (photos, awards, events, certifications, etc), please use our monthly CTAE MachForm or email Taylor Constantino (taconsta@pasco.k12.fl.us).

Email: lmromano@pasco.k12.fl.us
Website: http://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/
Location: 7227 Land O' Lakes Boulevard, Land O Lakes, FL, USA
Phone: 813-794-2204
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pascoschools/

If you are interested in becoming a CTAE Business Partner for the 2024-2025 School Year, please submit your information through this Mach Form.