Recently, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos embarked on a “Rethink School” tour through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The tour was intended to highlight innovative local practices in education, and included a stop at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where DeVos visited the college’s CTE programs and learned more about its business and industry partnerships. "I think that partnership with business and industry really drives the future in terms of workers' needs and opportunities for them," DeVos said. "Having business integrally involved with helping form and shape programs and curriculums is an imperative for connecting students with the possibilities."
In addition, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education Scott Stump undertook his own tour of promising CTE programs around the country. Stump traveled to the National Center for Aviation Training (NCAT) at Wichita Area Technical College in Wichita, Kansas, which offers a range of degree and certificate programs in aviation career fields. He spotlighted NCAT’s partnerships for developing aviation career pathways that includes local employers, postsecondary institutions and secondary CTE programs. “The most exciting part of the tour was learning more about the seamless secondary to postsecondary transition that NCAT offers to local high school students,” said Stump. “Students in the Wichita area are able to take classes at NCAT in 9th-12th grade and jumpstart their training and education for a career in aviation.” Assistant Secretary Stump also stopped by an apprenticeship program in Kentucky, high school CTE classrooms in Tennessee, and Francis Tuttle Technology Center (an ACTE Educational Institution Member) in Oklahoma.
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