Tag: CTE

Industry certification opportunity for teens | Alaska Petroleum Academy

KPBSD teens, will you be 18 by June 30, 2017?
You have the opportunity to earn industry certifications in Kenai, from The Alaska Petroleum Academy.
Certifications offered include:

16 Hour Petroleum Health & Safety
24 Hour CITS Certification
40 Hour Hazwoper Certification
Confined Space Entry Certification

Classes will be held at the Work Force Development Center~Kenai Central High School, and are open to all KPBSD teens.
Requirements: students  must be 18 by June 30, 2017, and be able to attend all training dates. The program only allows 20 students to attend and if more sign up an interview process will be held.
Sign up through the KPBSD OneStop website
Training Schedule

  • Wednesday, March 29, 3pm – 8pm (5 hours)
  • Thursday, March 30, 3pm – 8pm (5 hours)
  • Friday, March 31, 3pm – 8pm (5 hours)
  • Saturday, April 1, 8am – 5pm (8 hours)
  • Sunday, April 2, 8am – 5pm (8 hours)
  • Monday, April 3, 3pm – 8pm (4 hours)
  • Tuesday, April 5, 2pm – 7pm (5 hours)

Alaska Petroleum Academy Poster '17

Cam Wyatt receives Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year award

Cam Wyatt, educator at Homer High School, receives top state award as 2016 Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor!
“This has been a bonus year for me,” said Cam Wyatt, Homer High School educator. “The 2016 Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year is a high honor and it will hang right beside the 2015 ACTE Promising Practice Award presented to me in November at the Alaska Statewide ACTE Conference. To be selected as the 2016 Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year by my peers, mentors and supervisors is a personal and professional honor. Twenty-six years of teaching has led me to develop an instructional style that focuses on “allow the eyes to see what the hands are doing and the mind is thinking.” This proactive constructivist style is a student centered growth mindset philosophy that values hands on learning. SkillsUSA is all about being able to demonstrate skill sets that lend themselves to be “Prepared-Polite-Productive”. Roll it all together and you have an educational environment that is exciting, full of discovery learning, and promotes personal investment by all. As many know, I’m retiring from the classroom this year and will become Principal of Mesa County School District 51 Career Center in Grand Junction, Colorado. It has been a lifelong dream to lead a school of this type and now I get my chance. My two decades of service in KPBSD have served me well. I will take this award and others with me as I continue to make a difference in the lives of young people.”

Cam Wyatt, Homer High School, with KPBSD students at Alaska State SkillsUSA conference
Cam Wyatt, Homer High School educator, with KPBSD students at Alaska State SkillsUSA conference

“Mr. Wyatt is one of the best teachers we have in our district and I am in so proud of his efforts with our students,” said Superintendent Sean Dusek. “This is a well-deserved award and I am very exciting recognition that he has earned. While I am sad to see him retire from our district, I am happy for him and the next steps in his career that will allow him to be closer to family.”
“Cam is an ambassador and a tremendous asset for the students and the programs of SkillsUSA and the learning community of Homer,” said Matt Widaman, Work Experience & Work Force Coordinator  It is exciting to see the powerful impact that Cam has had on the students of Homer High and surrounding Russian village schools, helping them gain the skills and the confidence to tackle and succeed with some very technically challenging projects. Cam’s students are well prepared and compete in a wide variety of different competitions. He provides a culture of leadership and high expectations for his students and the SkillsUSA programs at Homer High School.”
Links

Cam Wyatt, 2016 Alaska State Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor award recipient
Cam Wyatt, 2016 Alaska State Secondary SkillsUSA Advisor award recipient

KPBSD students score at SkillsUSA conference

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Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO) add value to the overall development of our Career and Technical Education (CTE).  KPBSD students from CTE classes have the opportunity to be involved in the SkillsUSA CTSO organization. This organization, or club, allows students to compete against other students in competitions that involve the use of the skills taught and developed in KPBSD CTE classes. An example of this is the welding competition. Students that are currently enrolled in (or have already taken) a welding class compete against other students across the state in a competency test involving welding. In this particular event students take a structural welding test similar to what a welder would have to do in order to prove his or her competency for a construction company.
Judges, usually from industry, evaluate the welds by visual and bend tests, just like in the real world, and a winner is chosen. Students also compete in leadership competitions. These competitions include: Job Interview, Prepared Speech, Extemporaneous Speech and Quiz Bowl. OurSkillsUSA students that participate in the district, state, and national events get to experience what it’s like to compete in a competitive job market, which is very similar to what they will be experiencing when they compete in the world of work.
Cam Wyatt said, “SkillsUSA is the best keep secret in Alaska. Our kids love it and it is a pure “performance based assessment” that incorporates soft and hard skill sets.”

Alaska State SkillsUSA State conference
March 31 – April 2, 2016

Action Skills
2nd place – Maguire Merriman, Soldotna High School
Carpentry
1st place – Gregory Smith, Homer High School
Crime Scene Investigation
3rd place – Afton Carlson, Soldotna High School
3rd place – Derek Lewis, Soldotna High School
Culinary Arts
3rd place – Brianna Bushnell, Kenai Central High School
Early Childhood Education
1st place – Margaret McGlothen, Soldotna High School
2nd place – Savannah Kreider, Soldotna High School
3rd place – Hannah O’Dell, Soldotna High School 
Employment Application Process
1st place – Maguire Merriman, Soldotna High School
Extemporaneous Speaking
1st place – Nolan Bunting, Homer High School
2nd place – Margaret McGlothen, Soldotna High School 
Job Interview
1st place – Mara Youngren-Brown, Kenai Central High School
Photography
2nd place – Nolan Bunting, Homer High School
Prepared Speech
1st place – Michael Lewis, Soldotna High School
2nd place – Nolan Bunting, Homer High School
3rd place – Afton Carlson, Soldotna High School 
Quiz Bowl, 1st place team
Afton Carlson, Soldotna High School
Ashley Jones, Soldotna High School
Derek Lewis, Soldotna High School
Michael Lewis, Soldotna High School
Maguire Merriman, Soldotna High School 
Restaurant Service
1st place – Andrew Agosti, Kenai Central High School
2nd place – Ashley Jones, Soldotna High School
3rd place – Mara Youngren-Brown, Kenai Central High School
Technical Drafting
2nd place – Liam Floyd, Kenai Central High School
Welding
1st place – Hayden Chase, Homer High School
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Professional Development Program, Students who Scored 75% or higher

  • Soldotna High School, Hannah O’Dell
  • Soldotna High School, Savannah Kreider
  • Kenai Central High School, Alexis Koroll
  • Soldotna High School, Afton Carlson
  • Soldotna High School, Ashley Jones
  • Kenai Central High School, Andrew Agosti
  • Homer High School, Nolan Bunting

2016-2017 SkillsUSA State Officers

  • Derek Lewis – Soldotna High School, Historian

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First time: Maritime Awareness Day

2015 Seward High Maritime Academy
Thunder, lightening, and rain didn’t stop Seward High Students from painting, welding and working on heavy equipment at the Vigor Shipyard, September 10, 2015.
The interactive tour started at AVTEC when students from Seward High, AVTEC’s Welding, Diesel Mechanics and Constructions classes met with employers, department officials from DOT, and the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Labor, Joe Thomas. Students travelled to the shipyard where Vigor employees had a welding lab, machine shop demonstration, and fabrication shop stations, then they learned the art and science of the boat painting industry followed by the heavy equipment and Dry Dock facility. Students loved the hands on, action packed day, and returned with inspiration, new learning, and ideas!
ACCD_Maritime_Poster_2015_Revised_high_res

Nikiski Middle-High gets creative with Checkmate King CNC Laser

laserThrough a State of Alaska grant, Nikiski Middle-High School received a Checkmate King CNC Laser. The “King,” as the students call the CNC Laser, has made quite an impact both in quality projects and the understanding of dimensional geometry. NMHS CTE teachers Paul Johnson and Vern Kornstad have challenged both themselves and their students to master the fundamentals of this new technology. They are challenged to understand the maintenance, functions, media, and how exportation in CorelDraw has had to change from previous machines. Should you visit the class you will hear excited and eager students anticipating their projects and troubleshooting to make them even better! Each moment is excitement in hands-on learning, applied math, computer technology, and employability skills.
The class is partnering with the Soldotna, Alaska, business Threeguysnowood.com. The task the partnership developed was to create a small inexpensive project that tourists could purchase at the business. The winning project would be class produced, marketed and sold this summer through the business with all proceeds returned to the CAD/CAM program at NMHS. Students brought their creativity and understanding of computer program tools,  CorelDraw, geometry and measurements to create and execute product ideas. The class voted on the computer assisted drawings and discussed marketing potential. The samples below are some of the CorelDraw ideas that students created. Each color of a line tells the CNC Laser where to cut, how deep to cut, and where to burn on the student designs. Each component is a layover of a layover, so the students must be aware of each line, close each line, and what that line will be doing when exported to the King.
 
artThe selected design from each class was then exported to the CNC Laser. There were some exciting moments when the computer assisted drawings did not turn out exactly as anticipated. As a class, a team in the real-world, they assisted each other in correcting the pathways needed to cut out the prototype(s).
 
Tami Murray, Executive Director of the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, worked with the business to assist in choosing the most marketable item. After careful consideration the Alaskan puzzle was designated to be produced.
 
TamiFrom that discussion, the instructors further discussed with the students the factors of: packaging, cost of items, and overall marketability. One of the unforeseen and most exciting results of this grant funding is that all chosen student projects will be produced and sold at Threeguysnowood.com this summer with 100% of those proceeds returning to the CAD/CAM program. In a sense every class then has a stake in sales, and every class is a winner.cribbage board
The State of Alaska CTE 2015 grant has made an enormous impact on students already. The grant has provided a vehicle in which to foster student learning and to bring resources back into the CTE program. Students are challenged in an integrated cross-content project emphasizing applied math, computers, marketing, and fostering employability skills. This has truly been a success!
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Thank you to Paul Johnson and Vern Kornstad, Nikiski Middle High School for this story.
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HB72 and Education Funding in KPBSD

HB72 and Education Funding in KPBSDPrint

  1. Prioritize Alaska’s future.

Our children have one chance for a K-12 education and it needs to be the best we can provide. KPBSD is committed to deliver a quality education to our students and provide stability for our staff and communities. Unanticipated education funding reductions, proposed this late in the budgeting process, compromises our ability to prepare our students for their future.
 

  1. Proposed cuts will compromise the ability of schools to deliver quality education and vital programs.

“In addition to our Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses, art, music, and technology education, we have been able to increase the amount of college prep classes we are able to offer at our school,” said Dan Carstens, Nikiski Middle-High principal. “Our AP course offerings have doubled in the past year and we were able to offer an honors course to our freshmen and sophomore classes. Our main focus is to differentiate what we offer to our students to best meet them at their current levels. The bottom line is that we have a fine balance of offerings to meet the needs of our diverse population at Nikiski Middle-High School.
For the next school year, in part due to enrollment and budget reductions, we already needed to eliminate one full position. We were able to manage this reduction while still being able to offer our complement of courses, albeit at a decreased level. Obviously it was not our desire to eliminate a position, however, we also understand the need to reduce our spending with the state income not what it used to be.
When I learned of the possible additional reduction to the BSA [Foundation Formula 4.1% reduction], I was taken aback and immediately examined my current staffing sheet to determine what else could go. It came down to programs and opportunities for our students. … I then looked at our CTE programs and would have to have lighter versions due to the fact that our instructors would need to teach a wider variety at mainly a beginning level. In other words, not a deep understanding, only introductory. Which would be a shame, especially with the variety of equipment we currently possess.
Again, I understand the need to make reductions. It is imperative, however, that these reductions are incremental and they are not applied all at one time. We have made our plans for next school year to continue our services. Each year we have the normal attrition of our staff from retirements and resignations; we examine how we can restructure our staffing on a regular basis to continue to meet the needs of our students. As you know, it is never easy, but we have made those decisions based on what our students need to graduate and be successful beyond high school whether it is in college or a career.”

Please contact legislators to voice your opinion about the proposed reductions to education funding.

Last Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee amended HB 72, with a 4.1 percent reduction to the Foundation Formula educational funding. The impact to KPBSD is:

  • Reduction of state contribution to KPBSD: $4,238,432
  • Reduction of local (borough) contribution to KPBSD: $977,007

 
Governor Walker proposed an operating budget reduction of educational One-Time Funding in HB 72.The impact to KPBSD is:

  • Reduction of state contribution to KPBSD: $2,262,989
  • Reduction of local (borough) contribution to KPBSD: $520,487

 
Potential 2015-2016 revenue loss to KPBSD: $7,998,915

  • Total possible reduction in state funding to KPBSD: $6,501,421
  • Total possible reduction in local (borough) funding to KPBSD: $1,497,494

 
A joint Finance and House conference committee has formed for HB 72  and will be meeting soon.

 
*HB72 Operating Budget Conference Committee Members

Kenai Peninsula Legislators

Connect with KPBSD on Facebook, twitter, our Mobile App, and website to follow updates. Contacts for Alaska legislators are noted in this announcement, and also on the Alaska State Legislature webpage.
Links

Nikiski Middle High School shop
Contact Pegge Erkeneff, Communication Specialist
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
907.714.8838
Communications@KPBSD.org
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Job shadow: a big, heavy project

March job fair
Seward High School students Marcus Sharamek and Kris Hettick spent Friday March 20, 2015, with Troy Hager and his heavy equipment class. The job shadow day was arranged through the Kenai Peninsula School District and John Clare. It allowed Kris and Marcus to see what AVTEC is like and to get a taste of the type of work a Heavy Equipment mechanic does. The guys had fun and it was “cool to see how the excavator came apart,” said Hettick. They enjoyed the new trucks, being in the shop, and getting hands on experience with the other students. It was fun to be involved taking the tracks off of the John Deere 135 Excavator and seeing how it actually works. Both Sharamek and Hettick feel this type of work is something they are interested in pursuing. They learned a little about shop operations, shop safety, and how to work with a team on a big heavy project. It was also good for the AVTEC students–they became the mentors and found out they learn more when they have to explain what is going on. AVTEC hopes to extend this type of opportunity to other high school students around the peninsula or state.
Story contributed by Kent Berklund
March job shadow