CTE Bulletin

On February 14-15, Central Oneida County Volunteer Ambulance Corps (COCVAC) EMT Kris Joseph, CLI, visited the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES Criminal Justice Career and Technical Education (CTE) program to teach Basic Life Support (BLS) skills to CJ 1 students.

Over the two days, students learned adult, child and infant CPR and how to properly connect and use an AED. At the end of the classroom and practical sessions, a total of 13 students received BLS certification cards. The BLS certification provided by EMT Joseph and COCVAC is valid for two years.

In addition to the BLS certification, Criminal Justice teacher Mr. Ames, who is a New York State AEMT, taught the class basic first aid skills, including the importance of scene safety, how to identify various medical emergencies, bleeding control/tourniquet application and how to use an EpiPen.

Several Oneida-Herkimer-Madison (OHM) BOCES students received recognition at this year’s SkillsUSA Area 2 Regional Competition held at SUNY Morrisville on February 9.

More than 900 students from technical schools and BOCES throughout the region competed in more than 50 events within job fields that included culinary, health, leadership, construction, mechanics and computer communications. Competitions allowed participants to showcase their skills, network with regional business and industry partners and learn about SUNY Morrisville’s programs and facilities.

First-place finishers from the OHM BOCES chapter of SkillsUSA included Trysten Grems (Whitesboro) in Nursing Assistant, Kylie Hook (Whitesboro) in Criminal Justice and Andrew Pereria (New York Mills) in Carpentry.

Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) OHM students Casey Confer and Aiden Sheaffer, both of Whitesboro, placed second and third in their respective competitions of Extemporaneous Speaking and Cabinet Making.

The OHM BOCES chapter of SkillsUSA, led by advisors Kimberly Petronella and John Stratton, also won the Area 2 Community Service Project for the seventh consecutive year. This year's project was a food and hygiene drive to benefit Feed Our Vets.

Additionally, two OHM BOCES chapter members and one advisor are currently serving in SkillsUSA at the state level. Skylar Albin (Oriskany) is the NYS SkillsUSA Reporter, Gianna Spartano (Whitesboro) is a NYS SkillsUSA Officer at Large and Petronella is a NYS SkillsUSA Team Manager.

“The SkillsUSA competition allows our students to not only demonstrate their knowledge and competency, but also provides them opportunities to collaborate with business and industry partners and network with peers across the region,” said Mike Hoover, principal of the Career and Technical Education Center. “The regional competition prepares students for the state competition at the New York State Fairgrounds in April.”

The OHM BOCES serves the following component school districts: Brookfield, Clinton, Holland Patent, New Hartford, New York Mills, Oriskany, Remsen, Sauquoit Valley, Utica, Waterville, Westmoreland and Whitesboro.

On February 7, students from the OHM BOCES chapter of SkillsUSA loaded a trailer full of donated non-perishable food and hygiene products for Feed Our Vets. The items were collected by CTEC students as part of a SkillsUSA week.

Feed Our Vets helps veterans, their spouses and children whose circumstances have left them on the battlefield of hunger. All items collected by CTEC students will go directly to the Utica-area Feed Our Vets organization to help veterans and their families who live in our community.

The total number of items collected was 2,029 (weighing 1,680 pounds). The Criminal Justice Program contributed 1,438 of the total items.

Students in the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison (OHM) BOCES Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs received an important message on Feb. 2 about the dangers of distracted driving and its devastating consequences.

Guest speaker Karen Torres lost her father 17 years ago in a crash caused by a distracted driver and now uses her family’s tragedy to show others first-hand, how one poor decision can change their life forever. Torres spoke to students about her personal experiences, making safer choices while driving and putting down their cellphones. Since her father’s death in 2006, Torres has traveled the state as a safety advocate, speaker and educator for teens, adults and organizations.

Distracted driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on a phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in the vehicle and fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system — anything that takes the driver’s attention away from the task of safe driving.

The presentations were sponsored by the OHM BOCES chapter of SkillsUSA. SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of students, teachers and industry professionals working together to offer leadership and citizenship development to complement students’ career and technical education skills training. The SkillsUSA Framework illustrates how students fulfill the mission of the organization: to empower members to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members. As part of this Framework, SkillsUSA chapters, like the one at the OHM BOCES, provide learning opportunities for fellow classmates on a variety of topics. Karen Torres’ presentations on distracted driving help to educate students on the Framework skills of safety and health while building awareness of a topic that is especially relevant to teens.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving claimed the lives of 3,522 people in 2021. Cell phone use while driving has surpassed drinking and driving as the leading cause of death and accidents among teens ages 16-20.

Over Regents week in January, the MiTech classes took a visit down to Culinary to learn new skills in the kitchen. The classes were given the opportunity to work with both Chef Hoffmeister and Chef Courto on cooking and baking. The class was able to create their own cookie recipes and participate in a cookie baking competition.

Career and Technical Education Center programs focus on preparing students for employment, careers or post-secondary education through the development of technical and 21st-century skills. Working with state-of-the-art equipment, students apply theory and knowledge to a wide range of real life work assignments in shops and laboratories. In addition to technical skills, students learn critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, positive employment attitudes, job seeking skills, familiarization with related career opportunities and college readiness.

Email: mhoover@oneida-boces.org

Website: https://www.oneida-boces.org
Location: 4747 Middle Settlement Road, New Hartford, NY, USA
Phone: 315-793-8666
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ohmboces1/
Twitter: @ohmboces