HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Take to the skies with the Flying Tigers. They're students at Sterling High School.

This year's program has put out the largest number of high school solo pilots ever. It's the only program of its kind in the state, and for these students, it's life changing.

At 17 years old, high schoolers George Smith, James Bunch and Christian Moreno are flying high and living a dream.

They are among 40 other students who are apart of Sterling High School's Aviation Sciences magnet program, which trains future pilots and others in the aviation industry. But those three students, and another two, are -- let's just say -- flying above the rest, as they have now taken to the skies, solo.

"Everything was racing through my head, everything. My parents were crying, my instructor was proud," Bunch said.

"It was just like a dream come true, it was a very exhilarating moment," Smith said.

"I felt like I am capable of doing everything," Moreno said.

Not to worry, because by the time they reach the cockpit of the Grumman Cheetah single-engine plane, they've had hours upon hours of classroom training, intense math and science from instructors at Flying Tigers Flight School.

"A great deal of science involved with aerodynamics and with the systems on the plane," flight instructor Warren Benson said.

The training usually costs thousands.

"Generally to get a private pilot license is going to cost between $6,000 and $8,000," Benson said.

For Sterling students, it is free of charge.

For these students it's about much more than flying solo; it's about an opportunity that has already changed their lives.

"No matter what obstacle that lies ahead of you, between getting from point A to point B in aviation, just stick with it and push hard for it," Smith said.

Many of the students begin their training in the ninth grade. For many of the students, like Smith, by the time they finish the program, they will likely have their private pilot's license.

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Academic Awards

As part of Energy Day’s year-long initiative to engage students in energy education, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the Consumer Energy Education Foundation (CEEF) and our Energy Day partners are excited to host the 2nd Annual Energy Day Academic Program.

The Energy Day Academic Program helps to amplify existing academic competitions and events through a series of six unique, citywide, energy-related competitions aimed to motivate, challenge and inspire young minds to seek careers in science and technology. Winners from each competition receive an award and recognition at Energy Day.

Ms. Ahmad was difficult to spot when I first walked into her classroom, as she was seated among the students for the upcoming presentations and was prepared to engage them in discussion. On this visit, students were presenting their Disease Research Project. The students had been asked to research a specific disease, submit a written report of their findings to describe its history, causality, epidemiology, pathology, response and treatment, along with its socio-politico-economic impact. They were also expected to stand before their peers and the teacher to present their work and to defend their body of research and conclusions.

This was an effective technique to engage all types of learners, particularly visual learners. Ms. Ahmad used peer-to-peer feedback and offered support during and after the presentations. She also used the process as a way to instruct soft skills, presentation skills, course vocabulary, and to promote literacy. She was very encouraging to the students, but every misstep and every poorly remembered fact was used as a teaching opportunity to help them improve.
Every career in the health care industry starts with a solid foundation of knowledge. The Anatomy and Physiology course provides part of that foundation at Waltrip. Anatomy is the study of the structures associated with the human body. Physiology is the study of the function of each of these structures. The understanding of anatomy and physiology are fundamental to the understanding of diseases and how to diagnose and combat them. Organ systems are so interconnected that a disease in one system may result in a symptom in another system. All of the students seem to have grasped an understanding of the complexities to overcome in the course work.

Many of the students indicated that they have aspirations for future careers in the health science industry and seemed genuinely excited about their research efforts. I observed two classes and both well-behaved groups of youngsters put forth varying degrees of effort, but I believe that all of them took away an improved skill set.

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Despite the worst job market in decades, Senniti had three job offers right out of high school.

CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano reports Senniti graduated in 2009 as a certified welder from a Career and Technical Education high school -- or what used to be called vocational education. He now works for Air Products in Allentown, Pa.

John McGlade, president and CEO of Air Products, says 4,000 of his 7,500 U.S. employees are skilled workers. His global company designs and builds high-tech hydrogen equipment and devices.

McGlade is "worried" he won't be able to find skilled workers in the future. He hires about 550 U.S. workers a year. Three-hundred-and-sixty are technically skilled positions that require two years of college or advanced certification. These positions can often go unfilled for 12 months.

"You need people who are electronics experts, instrument technicians, mechanics," McGlade said.

This year funding for vocational education was cut by $140 million and President Obama is proposing a 20 percent cut next year.

"Without support and continued development of a skilled workforce, we're not going to be able to fill the jobs," McGlade warned.

Lehigh Career and Technical Institute would be impacted, as well -- 5 percent of its budget comes from federal grants. The school trains about 3,000 students from across the Lehigh Valley. According to the National Association of Career and Technical Schools, these students can earn $26 an hour more than workers with only a high school diploma.

"There is going to be more and more of those skilled jobs that are available, that are going to be paying and provide a sustaining career for years and years to come," McGlade said.

It's a career path that McGlade estimates will need 10 million more skilled workers over the next decade.

Mariel, along with the rest of the class worked hard all semester to master the certification exams. This is a first in the Burbank Middle School history to offer and recognize a high school credit class with industry certification opportunities!

Now a freshman at North Houston Early College High School, Mariel will continue the process of learning and obtaining additional Microsoft Office 2007 industry certifications under the mentorship of Kenneth Ta.

Allstate and Houston ISD teamed up to teach teens about the dangers of driving while distracted. The event was designed to help raise awareness of the problem. Students enrolled in CTE Automotive Technology were asked to go through an obstacle course while texting, reaching for the IPod, talking on the phone, or having loud friends in the backseat and boy was it scary!

The professional driving instructors tested students on their reactive skills by asking them to shuffle through quarters and dimes with one hand, pull out change while driving, scan manually to their favorite radio stations and remain focused despite an obnoxiously loud passenger.

It was all part of the Allstate Driver Challenge, which turned the parking lot of Reliant Park into a special road obstacle course.

"Driving in distraction like talking on the cell phone, text messaging, using twitter, eating... it doesn't mix with driving," said Kristen Beaman, an Allstate Spokesperson.

The young participants say it was an eye opening experience."Before they take the course, the teens think I can text message and drive all the time," said Beaman. "When they go through the course and start mowing over the cones. The driving instructor says that could have been a dog, that could have been a person and then they realize they are not so good at driving and texting at the same time."

Studies show nearly 5,000 teens die in car crashes every year, and the primary cause was not alcohol, but driver error.
"Car crashes are the number one killer of teens," said Beaman. "We're trying to drive home the message that distractions can be deadly. We're out here trying to save lives today."

Allstate also wants parents and teens to be aware of the Graduated Driver Licensing Laws, which prohibits drivers under the age of 18 to talk on a cell phone while driving. It also limits the number of teen passengers onboard.

Lisa Williams Stillwell has moved from her Career and Technical Education (CTE) teaching position to Campus Magnet Coordinator and she was able to share with me some of her goals for the coming year. The Aviation Program was established in the late 70s, and students have received first-hand experience of what it means to become a pilot since then.

In addition to the new appraisal system, the principal discussed the changing demographics of the campus and surrounding neighborhood and the importance and strength of diversity.

Included as a part of the week's agenda were two recent graduates of the Magnet School of Aviation Science at Sterling. Sterling is one of a few high schools that offer students the opportunity to graduate with an F.A.A. Certification as a Private Airplane Pilot. The flight instruction is provided as a part of their curriculum at no cost to the students. Obtaining the level of certification in the private sector would normally range in cost from $6000 - $10000.
Jeremy Jenkins, a 2008 graduate from Sterling, was the guest speaker on the first day. He obtained his air plane pilot license through the Magnet Program after two years of study that included ground school, flight training, and passing a number of exams in order to meet federal licensing requirements. He was legally able to fly all single engine airplanes before his senior year of high school. He received an Honorable Mention at the 2007-2008 Annual Board of Education Student Awards. He was nominated for the US Naval Academy at Annapolis by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

Jeremy grew up near Hobby Airport and from an early age dreamed of becoming a pilot. He watched as the airplanes flew overhead and wondered if it could be possible. Entering Sterling as a freshman, he started taking flying lessons and began working at the airport in various capacities through the Career Preparation courses offered through the campus CTE Department.

Jeremy has chosen history as a major at the Academy. He is a very articulate and focused young man. He says that this was not always the case and credits his teachers for being able to pull it out of him. He also credits his Career Preparation courses and internships at Shell, TX DOTS, and others with providing invaluable work experience and people skills. Jeremy says that the CTE Programs "brought focus and concentration" to his time at Sterling and a healthy head-start when he arrived at the Naval Academy.

Jeremy has taken on the role as Sterling advocate with his superior officers at the Naval Academy (some of who did not believe that they would find fertile ground for recruiting at such a campus).

One of four boys, Jeremy's family has always been a supportive and positive influence. His mom works at the City of Houston Library and volunteers at Sterling. His father is a barber and always supportive of his son's goals. Jeremy says that the constant support from teachers, parents, and preachers was a source of inspiration.

The guest speaker on the second day was Alejandro Martinez. Alejandro was also a 2008 graduate of the Sterling High School Aviation Science Magnet Program. Unlike Jeremy, Alejandro was unaware of the Aviation Program when he first started at Sterling. Alejandro said that it took his entire freshman year at Sterling to get focused. He credited the aviation teacher with sparking his interest in flying and aviation; by simply taking the time with him and making him aware of all the options available at Sterling through CTE. He started flying in 2005, did his first solo flight in 2006, and obtained his private airplane pilot certification license in 2007.

Alejandro is currently studying at Houston Community College (HCC) and majoring in business and accounting. In addition to being a part of the Aviation Magnet Program, Alejandro was also enrolled in a coherent sequence of courses in Business Marketing while at Sterling. And like Jeremy, he was also enrolled in Career Preparation courses with Lisa Williams Stillwell. Through the Career Prep courses, he worked at Circuit City, AT&T, and US Terminals. He said that the experience enabled him to easily find work with his current employer, Chase Bank. He does cash audits for Chase's ATM and this allows him to pay for his college tuition.

Alejandro said that it's important for students to understand that there are many options available at the school. Even though he was enrolled in the aviation program and was able to obtain his pilot license, he found greater interest in his marketing and business course work. While at Sterling, he was president of the student leadership organization DECA, while working on his F.A.A. Instruments License. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. After a turbulent first year, Alejandro began taking AP courses, Career Preparation courses, and Dual-Credits courses. The credits from his high school courses have also been applied as college credits at HCC.

Alejandro is confident and articulate; traits that he attributes to soft skills learned from his teachers and marketing classes. The first in his family to go onto college with three older sisters and a younger brother, Alejandro says that his parents support has also been critical. His father worked in the custodial department at Sterling and was always available to help re-focus his energies during his freshman year.
Both young men say that they benefitted greatly from the business partnership between Sterling and the TSU Aviation Program. TSU offered after school pilot coaches and support from the Black Pilots of America and the Organization of Black Airline Pilots. The coaches assisted the students with additional instruction and tutoring for the F.A.A. Exams. The Sterling Aviation Magnet Program has been able to recruit their former tutor as instructor for the aviation course. Marvin Smith III is one of the new teachers at Sterling, but he is certainly not new to the program or the campus. In addition to his new teaching duties at Sterling, Mr. Smith is currently, Vice President of Black Pilots of America.

Jeremy and Alejandro are just two such success stories from Sterling High School. Both are eager to come back as alumni and offer support to the current students.

Seated--Left to Right
Yvonne Tovar, She'neal Sheppard, Danesha Griffin, Veronica Camarillo, Carla Cruz, and Jessica Coleman.

April 9, 2011
Sylvan Beach
La Porte, Texas
10 a.m.- 2 p.m.

A career path day dedicated to the future of our youth
The purpose of this event is to provide students from area high schools with maritime programs, Sea Scout Ship 1926, Sea Scout Ship 77–S.S.S. Raggety, Sea Scout Ship 17–S.S.S. Gilded Lady, Sea Scout Ship 31–S.S.S. Perla Negra and Sea Scout Ship 306 (Houston Gateway Academy) an opportunity to receive a variety of demonstrations, exhibits and career path information associated with the maritime industry and military service to our country.

Booths and Demonstrations

• U.S. Coast Guard Helo operations – hoist rescue and landing on site
  
• U.S. Coast Guard RB-S patrol boat display
  
• Man overboard demonstration
  
• Safety on the beach exhibits – CPR/911
  
• Line heaving training
  
• Beer goggle experience
  
• Boat/vessel examinations and training
  
• Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
  
• U.S. Coast Guard recruiter booth
  
• U.S. Coast Guard damage control tank
  
• Port of Houston Authority
  
• Real-time firefighting demonstrations
  
• Texas Southern University

Lunch will be provided for participants

Presented by
U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary

Sponsored by
Harris County Pct. 2 Commissioner Jack Morman, Houston Pilots Association, Port of Houston Authority, Economic Alliance Houston Port Region, San Jacinto College, Texas Parks & Wildlife and West Gulf Maritime Association

You are invited to get involved!
If your company or organization is interested in participating in this event, please call: 281-487-2914 or RSVP at the following link: MARITIME YOUTH EXPO **

**If you are unable to use the hyperlink above, please copy or type the following address into your browser address bar to access the RSVP link: http://www.aec4web.com/pohopportunities/

Gabriela has chosen Graphic Arts as her career path at Jordan High School. Her creative abilities in Print Media have awarded her the title of national winner of not just one competition but two. The first being Rochester Institute of Technology Digital Arts, Film & Animation Competition in Rochester, NY, in which she has won an all expense paid trip for her and a parent or teacher to attend along with a cash prize of $250. While in New York, she will also receive free passes to the Deaf Rochester Film Festival and a plaque commemorating her success!

The second competition she entered and won was the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities Barbara Jordan Media Awards, where she is the youngest recipient this year amongst national authors and reporters from Texas. She will travel to Austin, TX in April for the crowning ceremony.

“We are all so very proud of her skills, abilities and motivation to send a message to the world that there‘s nothing wrong with being deaf” says Tim Thorn, her classroom support teacher.
Kudos goes out to Marvin Howard, Graphic Arts Instructor, who continues to bring great inspiration to his students and whose coaching has helped to ignite a spark of creativity in Gabriela that allows her to compete at a national and nternational level.

Gabriela thanks her parents for always being supportive, and her teachers; Marvin Howard, Graphic Arts Instructor, who is coaching her in the area of digital and graphic arts media, and Tim Thorn her classroom support teacher.

"I feel proud of myself. Nothing can stop me," says Gabriela Hanrahan, a hearing impaired student from Jordan High School. "We're just like everyone else."

Hearing Impaired Houston Student Wins National Contest

The Apple iPad is poised to revolutionize the way we “do Education [sic]” in not just the technology classroom, but in every academic classroom covering every subject. The Apple iPad is the perfect learning companion; it’s portable and powerful enough to take anywhere.
In August of 2010, Catherine Smith was asked to present a proposal to Houston Community College for the expansion of mLearning at the high school level. Ms. Smith is Austin High and Houston Community College Dual Credit Information Technology Instructor, and the 2010 Houston ISD East Region Teacher of the Year. In 2009, the leadership at HCC provided Ms. Smith with a classroom set of iPod Touch devices. She was then commissioned to create a podcast of Microsoft Office instructional videos that could be accessed by the students via the iTouch or their own mobile device. It was a huge success! Students were more engaged in the learning process through this new medium of instruction delivery and the grades dramatically improved. As a result of its success, the program with iTouch and mobile devices was adopted and implemented as a pilot for other Career & Technical Education courses across the district.

With the success of mobile learning through the iTouch, Houston Community College Southeast awarded Smith and each of her dual credit students an iPad to view the Learning Microsoft Podcast, as well as expand their overall mobile learning capabilities. Using the iPads, students have been able to train for the Microsoft Certification Exams, use Google Docs and Office Docs to create and edit web based documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. In addition, the students have made use of the standard apps on the iPad such as Calendar, Notes, and Maps to map various locations around Houston. They can even utilize the web-based Blackboard or their standard email to retrieve classroom assignments. Finally, the iPad can truly be used to teach “across the curriculum”; because students in Ms. Smith’s class can find various apps that cover any core subject area. This is particularly helpful when studying for exams and preparing for the TAKS test. Austin High School students love the portability and functionality of the iPad as it truly is a compliment to the learning process. Future endeavors include accessing Microsoft Office 2010 through HCC’s “Cloud Computing” platform.

Smith and her students are grateful to the strong support from Dr. Johnella Bradford and Roger Boston at Houston Community College Southeast, as well as the leadership and support from Rosena Garcia, CTE Director and Linda Llorente, principal at Houston ISD.

Apple Ipads: Taking Mobile Learning to the Next Level

Austin and Chavez High Schools

Thursday, March 24, 2011

• 9:00 am to 1:00 pm Ag Adventures
• 5:00 pm Rabbit Show

Friday, March 25, 2011

• 9:00 am to 1:00 pm Ag Adventures
• 2:00 pm Horticulture,
  
• 5:00 pm Poultry, Lambs, Goats, Swine, Heifers and Steers
• 3:30-6 pm BBQ

Saturday, March 26, 2011

• 9:00 am- 12:00 pm Silent Auction
  
• 10:30 am Buyers Check-In
  
• 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Luncheon (Complimentary to registered buyers)
  
• 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm Awards Presentation
  
• 1:00 pm Live auction Begins

For Information, Contact:
Cecario Guerrero: 281-468-6792
Laura Calhoun: 903-399-5083

The study is inspired by European systems of education, and its authors say too many students are graduating high school without middle-level skills that could help them land well-paying jobs as electricians, for example. About a third of jobs in the next decade won't require a four-year college education, the study says, and this program would help American kids prepare for them.

The study may raise the specter of "tracking"--the process by which minority and poor kids are pushed into vocational programs at their schools and held to lower expectations. EdWeek's Catherine Gewertznotes that the authors seem to anticipate that concern, writing that students should be able to change their minds about whether they want to go to college or try a different career at any time. But the report also argues that "the coursetaking requirements for entry into the most demanding four-year colleges should not be imposed on students seeking careers with fewer academic requirements."

Gewertz writes that one of the study's co-authors, Robert Schwartz, previously championed a "college for all" approach to K-12 education.

Higher ed policy analyst Sandy Baum told the AP the idea is to enhance opportunities for everyone. "What we'd like is a system where people of all backgrounds could choose to be plumbers or to be philosophers," Baum added. "Those options are not open. But we certainly need plumbers so it's wrong to think we should be nervous about directing people in that route."

President Obama has said he wants the United States to lead the world in college graduation rates again.

Eastwood Academy Charter High School Moodle eLearning

At Eastwood Academy Charter High School, Gene Platt started using Moodle this year initially to help reduce the failure rate of some of his students. He found that many students simply failed to turn in homework assignments, or were absent for long periods of time in which major assignments were given during class. With Moodle being available anytime from anywhere, this removed the excuse for incomplete assignments. Technology terms and innovative gadgets have been integrated into the class curriculum. On the day that I visited; the students were getting used to, but still complaining of the pen tool that has replaced their familiar mouse used to interact with their computer. The student assignments and activities that were planned for the day were available online in Moodle and ready for downloading along with Office 2007 PowerPoint templates. Moodle comes equipped with a handy tool for creating glossaries online, so the day’s definitions and course glossary was also available for them.

Mr. Platt moved easily from his online lecture notes back to the Office applications for demonstration and students remained actively engaged in both the lecture and demonstrations throughout. In addition to activities and assignments, class quizzes are also online and used to provide direct and immediate feedback to the students and their parents. The grades are then exported for entry into GradeSpeed. During the last portion of the class period, the students were asked to put down their pen tools and turn off their computers. Everyone was then asked to take out reading material and read for approximately fifteen minutes weaving literacy into the daily standard.

Sharpstown High School Moodle eLearning
At Sharpstown High School, Keith Richards also started using Moodle this year. On the day that I visited the class, Mr. Richards’ students entered the classroom and went immediately to the Moodle installation in order to access their Blog. Students enter their notes and detail what they plan to do for the day in terms of developmental activities to improve their individual performance, behavior and knowledge.

The daily agenda is online; students receive extra credit for completing glossary entries, and for submitting discussion ideas to the forum. Additionally, stretch or enrichment activities are detailed that must be completed as a part of the warm-up.
All assignments are completed during class, but students do have the option to continue their work after school or from home.

Mr. Richards has designed his online quizzes to link back to study resources if the student selects an incorrect answer to a question, so immediate feedback and the opportunity to brush-up on any areas of weakness.
Both teachers are looking to improve and enhance the ways of disseminating information to their students. Moodle is open-source software that can be installed independently, or teachers may use the CTE site
www.houstoncte.org/moodle or the district site at http://learnonline.hisdacp.org/

As a course management system, Moodle can provide a solution that can be used to maximize the impact of new literacies. As a collaboration tool, Moodle accelerates the learning of new topics through the use of discussion boards and interactive tools. Additionally, students can be placed in groups on the system and within the class that allows for student-led instruction of certain topics.

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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HOUSTON - 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.

At 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.

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

IPods in the classroom bring curricula within reach from HCC Southeast on Vimeo.

In Catherine Smith’s class they touch and pinch and drag until it all sticks. After a brief primer from behind the teacher’s desk, the still-growing fingers of Stephen F. Austin High School students reach for touch-sensitive screens as the focal point of a new pedagogic protocol.   

 “It’s a very unique way of teaching nowadays,” admits Gabriela Limon, a precocious sophomore in the business and computer systems class filled mostly with juniors and seniors.

The palm-size screens belong to Apple’s popular iPod Touch, the primary platform with which Ms. Smith’s 20 dual-credit summer school students receive their lessons, take notes and schedule assignments. The unique class, the only one of its kind that the practitioners are aware of, is part of a nascent approach in education sectors called “mobile learning,” which seeks to engage an intuitively wireless generation with state-of-the-art teaching tools.

 “For years they’ve been using traditional teaching methods where the teacher will come out, talk for an hour or an hour and a half, and then have the students do work,” says Ms. Smith.  “Now, in this 21^st century, the dynamic has changed.”

High-tech High

The Austin High class is an out-growth of a similar course developed by professors Roger Boston and Lifang Tien of Houston Community College Southeast. Last spring, the two educators used an innovative projects grant to pilot a class structure based on using iPhones as a platform for lesson distribution and inter-student community building. The experiment took off, and Boston and Tien have since been traveling far and wide spreading the word.

“The world has changed from 10 years ago, even five years ago. Everything is fast and mobile,” says Ms. Smith. “Teachers have to be flexible, genuine and creative in order grasp attention and achieve retention.”

Ms. Smith, who does double duty as an Computer Information Systems instructor at Austin High School in Houston ISD and an adjunct Computer Science professor at HCC Southeast,says she was tapped by Mr. Boston and Dean of Workforce Development Dr. Johnella Bradford to develop a mobile learning class that would work at the high school level. For the high school students, the HCC team decided to nix the iPhones and their pricey cellular service contracts for its thinner cousin, the iPod Touch, which contains nearly all the same features minus the phone.

Adapting Well

To help her students learn Microsoft Office applications, Ms. Smith created a series of instructional videos that were pre-loaded onto each student’s iPod Touch by HCC Southeast’s instructional technology department.

“I actually turned a room in my house into a kind of sound room where I would go really early in the morning before anybody got up,” says Ms. Smith. “[On the videos] I’d be saying ‘click this, do that;’ actually teaching the students through it.”

After a chance meeting with one of the Vice Presidents of the Cengage Corporation, a textbook developer at a professional conference,Ms. Smith persuaded the company to create iPod compatible versions of their own instructional videos to supplement the course. The students, a cream of the crop selection from hundreds of applicants, have embraced the new approach, which they described as more convenient, illustrative and allowing them more control as compared with the dead-tree standard.

 “I prefer using this type of method because if you’re in a regular class, most of the time the teacher is trying to rush through the material just to get it over with. But if you’re using the iTouch, you pace yourself so you can understand things better,” says Estefani Fuentes, 17, a student in the class.

Despite the college level coursework and relatively brief summer class length, Ms. Smith says her students have behaved “marvelously” and adapted well to the non-traditional structure, with the vast majority of them scoring A’s and B’s on their assignments. The course will be continued and expanded this fall and spring.

 “Out of all the dual-credit classes I’ve taught with this subject matter, this class this summer has done the best. And it has been because of the videos being able to reinforce their learning,” she said. “I haven’t written on the board one time.”

Source: http://southeast.hccs.edu/southeast/ipods-in-class-bring-curricula-within-reach