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CTE Connection September 2024

Indian Trail Middle School

CTE ConnectionSeptember 2024Indian Trail Middle School

Mission

This newsletter's primary purpose is to communicate happenings within Johnson City School's middle school CTE programs and to inform of programs, activities, and other opportunities available to our students.

Middle School Careers Courses

6th grade: Career Awareness

In this first course, students gain an awareness of the scope of careers that exist within the 16 Career Clusters and become familiar with the vocabulary of CTE and the various professions, programs of study, and the intertwining of STEM focus in many professions.

7th grade: Career Exploration

This course allows students to take a deeper look into the 16 Career Clusters, exploring career pathways while performing real-work performance tasks.

8th grade: Career Investigations

In this course, students will sharpen their focus to investigate careers of interest that align to programs of study at Science Hill High School while also expanding their personal goals and building communication and interview skills.

Middle School Digital Media Courses

6th grade: Digital Media I

Students will learn about the history of digital media communications and will consider the complexities of digital ethics. In addition, students will explore digital media communications careers and will focus on still media.

7th grade: Digital Media II

Students will learn about the history of still media, will be introduced to audiovisual equipment and programs, and will consider the complexities of digital citizenship. In addition, students will explore storytelling, interviewing, and podcasts with a focus on audio components.

8th grade: Digital Media III

Students will learn about the history of motion media, will be introduced to audiovisual equipment and programs, and will consider the complexities of digital citizenship. In addition, students will explore commercials, advertising, video and sound production, and editing.

Classroom Spotlights

Careers at ITMS: 8th grade Mock Interviews

8th grade students in Brandie Sanchez's Careers classes had the opportunity to participate in Mock Interviews with various community partners. They gained real-world experience in completing applications, answering questions in an interview, and reflecting on their performance. We are grateful to all professionals who gave of their time and volunteered to support our students in this endeavor.

Digital Media at ITMS: Projects, projects, projects!

ITMS Digital Media students have learned about the various equipment available in the program and have utilized Soundtrap, among other applications, to produce musical sounds, podcasts, and video presentations.

Partitions to ensure top sound quality

One podcasting station

Second podcasting station

Fine-tuning the Recording Process

Students have completed projects to fine-tune the recording and editing process. Sixth grade students utilized Adobe Express to create Animate from Audio Cartoons, while 7th grade students practiced using Soundtrap to record and create podcasts.

LBMS and ITMS Digital Media Teachers Present at JC Schools Tech Academy

Our Digital Media teachers, Stephanie Elliott (LBMS) and Taleah Rogers (ITMS) presented on the use of Google Earth to develop virtual field trips at the Johnson City Schools' Tech Academy in July 2024.

SHHS CTE Students Bring Home Prizes

SHHS Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) members won 27 blue ribbons at the 2024 Appalachian Fair! FCCLA is a national career and technical student organization in family and consumer sciences education. This program offers resources and opportunities for students to pursue careers that support families. Members of Heather Conner's Topper Tots chapter designed, created and presented projects, including preschool floor plans and dioramas, research and safety projects, and a variety of child development projects. SHHS students garnered 27 first-place ribbons, 20 second-place ribbons, 12 third-place ribbons, and five fourth-place ribbons.

Personality Assessment

Major Clarity is a career exploration platform provided for our students that offers highly-personalized, student-driven academic and career planning tools. It helps ensure all students can explore "best fit" career matching and gives them easy access to information on colleges, technical colleges, scholarships, and work-based learning.


The program has been placed in our SSO Portal, and all teachers and students are automatically rostered, meaning no usernames or passwords are required. Take the time to explore this tool today!


How To Log In To Major Clarity:

1. Go to the SSO Portal

2. Click on the MajorClarity Icon

3. Navigate through the sidebar menu. Feel free to explore...you can't mess up!


First step in the Major Clarity journey is to complete the Personality Assessment: 48 questions and about 5 minutes to complete. You can find this assessment as well as one on Learning Styles by clicking on the Assessments option in the sidebar menu, and then answering the questions. The results of this assessment will then feed into the career pathways recommended in Career Exploration, providing careers ranked by your interests.


Students will work in Major Clarity within the Careers classes, but not all students will have such a class this year. So, make sure your student completes the assessment.


To view Tutorial Videos on all the menu options in Major Clarity, go to www.jcschools.org/MajorClarity


Look in this section of the newsletter each month for more info on Major Clarity in the future.

September Focus: Soft Skills vs. Hard Skills

Developing soft skills can help equip students for academic and professional success. Major Clarity provides this presentation to help our students become more aware of themselves and of areas to strengthen.

Dr. Jill Winiger, CTE Career Coach, K-12

Email: winigerj@jcschools.org
Location: 718 Morningside Drive
Phone: 423-232-2192
Twitter: @winigerjill

Jill Winiger
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