The Department of Education (DOE) recently hosted several leaders from career and technical student organizations (CTSOs) for a “Youth Voices” session with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as a component of its CTE Month celebrations in February. The Youth Voices sessions are designed to provide the Secretary and department staff with an opportunity to engage with students and solicit their input on existing and future policies and decisions.
During the meeting, the students briefed DOE attendees on their organizations’ missions, goals and recent achievements. They then went on to explain how CTSOs prepare their members for success by providing them with employability skills, career exploration and leadership development opportunities.
In addition, they explained some of the challenges that they have encountered in their experiences as CTSO leaders, particularly related to gaining public awareness of their organizations and building community support. One way they are addressing these challenges is partnerships with local businesses and industry, which provide CTSO participants with greater opportunity to learn about in-demand CTE-related career pathways.
CTSOs are excellent partners for ACTE and its members because of their commitment to creating opportunities for students to apply their CTE lessons inside and outside of the classroom. It’s also encouraging to see these young leaders stepping up to the plate and voicing their support for CTE learning opportunities. To learn more about the session, visit the DOE Youth Voices Session blog here. In addition, I encourage you to learn more about CTSOs at their newly minted website at www.ctsos.org.
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