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Madison High School teacher Kenneth Parker recalls the days where there was a high interest in farming. He said he was stunned to see there was not a high interest in at the school. Parker, who transferred from Westside High School, said he was used to students who were excited about being part of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program. FFA is a youth organization that is a part of agricultural education programs at middle and high schools. Today, student members are engaged in a wide range of curriculum and FFA activities, leading to more than 300 career opportunities in agriculture.
“I think a lot of people take us for granted as far as what our program has to offer,” said Parker. “A lot of the rewards are not just noticeable - even in high school. It definitely benefits down the line.“I think city and suburban students are too city-like or urban for FFA labor work,” he said with a laugh.
Despite Parker’s emotions about the program slowly fading away, he worked diligently preparing his FFA students for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo “I had several kids that have projects for the FFA rodeo - two steers, goats, two sets of chickens, lambs and a heifer,” Parker said. “What we are trying to do is make them competitive by supervising and taking care of the project. It’s supposed to be a learning experience.”
Call for diversity
The students also exercised hogs and raised chickens, he said.
Parker reminisced about the time he was in high school and how diverse the FFA organization was. He said he wishes that more minorities, like himself, would volunteer for the Rodeo or join FFA.
According to the FFA website, only 19 percent of its members are non-Caucasian.
“I think that’s a big extensive problem with us,” said Parker. “I feel personally that during the time when I took FFA back in my hometown, we had a diversity group of teachers. With this scenario of teachers, they encouraged all of us - regardless of our color – about what we wanted to do in terms of being involved in this program. It was so exciting to me as a ninth grader, that I chose this as my profession.
“What I would say to the kids of 2010 is that FFA has a variety of opportunities but I don’t think they take it serious enough. I think they laugh at the FFA jacket. They don’t think FFA is an important factor, but all those factors will contribute to them being successful as they go through high school and in college,” Parker said.
Parker said the program even offers scholarship opportunities.“They’re disgruntled. FFA is not a glamorous life but it is a rewarding life,” Parker said with a smile. “Students just don’t take advantage of it. That’s what wrong with the kids of 2010. I think a lot kids don’t see the advantages of this before it’s too late."
“This is a great program,” Parker said. “But, they only see the animal side.”
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EmailHOUSTON - Imagine flying an airplane before getting your drivers' license. That's just what some local students are doing. 39 News has the story of students who are enrolled in the Ross Sterling High School aviation program, and how they're soaring above their competition. "This program has been at Sterling High School since the late 70s," said Joseph Bennett, who's the aviation science magnet coordinator at Ross S. Sterling High School in Houston.
Since then, students have received first-hand experience of what it means to become a pilot.
"We are one of the few that actually offer these children their F.A.A. (Federal Aviation Administration) certification upon completion of the program," said Bennett.
Not only is this program providing options, but the best part? "It's free for each and every one of them to get their license," Bennett said. "And that license cost anywhere between $5,000 and $6,000 per student."
"They fly until they gain their 40 hours experience as required by the F.A.A.," said Lucio Vazquez, a certified flight instructor, who is studying at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "(When they're) 16 they can (fly) solo; 17 they can get their license as long as they meet the 40 hour minimum requirements." They took part in what is called a discovery flight. "They get to sit in the front seat and look at all the gauges go back and forth," said Vazquez.
"When you're up there, you get the turbulence," said Dayza Monson, who's a sophomore at Ross Sterling High School. "It feels like you're falling, and that's the worst feeling."
"My dream job is actually to become a naval fighter pilot," said Austin Banda, a sophomore at Ross Sterling High School, who already has 22 flight hours toward a pilot's license.
Thanks to the Houston Independent School District (HISD), that dream of flying is now a reality for all these students.
"It helps us take advantage of the opportunity to become a pilot or maybe we can even go to the military," said Alexandria Johnson, who got a chance to go in a plane with her best friend Dayza.
These kids are getting the opportunity of a lifetime.
"It's funny because my mom can drive me here, but I go take her flying," said Banda laughing.
"If they just keep it up, they have a strong potential to make it in this as their career," said Vazquez.
A career in aviation that's beginning very early for these students from Ross Sterling High School.
So just how successful has the program been? Two former aviation magnet students are now working as commercial pilots with Continental Airlines.
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EmailAt its most fundamental level, literacy represents the ability to read, write and communicate. Unfortunately, too many adolescents lack the literacy skills necessary to navigate the reading and writing requirements of high school and the future world in which they will work and live.
One of the ironic facts about adolescent literacy is that the reading levels of U.S. adolescents have actually declined during the past two decades, despite the fact that more students are taking higher level courses. Explicit literacy efforts must be targeted at high school students, but just giving students “more of the same” isn’t likely to have the dramatic impact that is needed.
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| An instructor assists a student during an Exploring Technology Systems class at North Davidson Middle School in Lexington, North Carolina. |
Almost every school district in the country has some type of literacy initiative in place, but all too often an incredible resource is overlooked. Career and technical education leaders have recognized the literacy challenge and have made improving their students’ reading and writing skills a top priority. Today’s CTE programs, offered in middle schools, comprehensive high schools, magnet or career-themed schools, and area technical centers, are both academically and technically demanding. Students must be able to read, comprehend, analyze and report on high level information in order to be successful not only in their education program but in their future careers.
Research has shown that one of the best ways to help students gain literacy skills is to motivate and engage them with content related to their interests, which can engage reluctant readers and, at the same time, improve literacy skills. Approximately 97 percent of all high school students take a CTE course at some point that exposes them to this essential relevancy. Students typically find their CTE courses to be directly connected to their future goals and are often more willing to engage in reading and writing within these courses. Job-specific vocabulary and authentic work situations can inspire students to apply themselves to literacy tasks that lack meaning in other contexts.
Contrary to what you may have heard, reading and writing opportunities can be found throughout CTE courses, and many CTE teachers are implementing rigorous content-area reading strategies. Industry-based technical textbooks (some of the most difficult reading high school students will encounter) and journals form the foundation, but the examples are limitless. For instance, at Georgia’s Golden Isles Career Academy, broadcast video students use the local newspaper to gather information that they use to write the news, sports and weather scripts they produce in the video lab. Students in health care programs often read and discuss novels containing medical issues, such as Eleventh Hour and My Sister’s Keeper.
In order for CTE literacy initiatives to be successful, school administrators must be committed to this approach. Some school districts have set literacy goals for their CTE programs, such as these from Davidson County Schools in Lexington, North Carolina:
• Students will read two career-related articles per month and demonstrate understanding in a writing opportunity.
• Students will write weekly to complete CTE assignments.
• Students will prepare a written report and/or research study each semester in every CTE class.
In other places, such as Maine, state and local administrators have worked in partnership to help CTE teachers better integrate content-area reading strategies.
Substituting CTE courses for traditional remedial reading courses can also provide a new approach to helping your students. In Florida, a lack of success with remedial reading has led to a rise in the popularity of content-area reading intervention courses, which provide opportunities for intensive reading intervention using the CTE course content. Courses such as “Digital Design” are infused with intensive reading strategies to engage reluctant readers in high-interest content.
Increasing students’ literacy skills will require the commitment of the entire education community. CTE teachers and administrators are primed and ready to assume a leadership role in this vital effort, and I hope you will consider the contribution they can make.
Alisha Hyslop is the assistant director of public policy for the National Association for Career and Technical Education.
Source: http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=2406
