On February 27, ACTE partnered with the Cardozo Education Campus to host the annual 2024 CTE Month School Visit to highlight the incredible programming, students, teachers and faculty at Cardozo. Cardozo is also home to ACTE’s CTE Teacher of the Year, Mr. Aris Pangilinan, known as “Mr. P.”
The event began with opening remarks by ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Curry, followed by remarks from Cardozo Principal Arthur Mola, Senior Deputy Chief of SEAD Strategy at D.C. Public Schools Glenn Starnes and Cardozo CTE Director Cheryl Rodgers. Mr. P followed these remarks with an inspiring speech, detailing how he grew into his role as a CTE teacher and the incredible experiences he offers to his students.
A student panel took center stage following Mr. P’s remarks, moderated by and featuring several CTE students pursing pathways in engineering, computer science and similar fields. Students on the panel had hopes of pursuing careers in neuroscience, diplomacy, cybersecurity and more. These students spoke about the impact that CTE has had on their education and their career prospects, giving examples of how CTE has strengthened their employability skills, confidence and networking abilities. They also shared some of the incredible opportunities CTE has opened for them, including internships. Most notably, the students discussed policy changes they need to see in how Congress and local leaders approach CTE. The overwhelming consensus was a push for more funding. Students explained how an increase in funding would help to ensure they all had access to laptops and other learning materials for home use, proper preparation for internships both on behalf of the students and organizations hosting the internships, and more programming that could send students abroad to expand their scope of understanding.
After the student panel, ambassadors from Mr. P’s class guided guests through several stations in his classroom, sharing work students have accomplished in robotics competitions, programs such as the Rotary Club that open doors for students looking to help local and global communities, and examples of past students who have gone on to exciting careers and postsecondary opportunities.
Lastly, guests were guided to visit two additional classrooms that were part of the school’s Engineering and IT programs. Guests had the chance to listen to Mr. Richards and Ms. Monsey’s lessons and see their classrooms and equipment. Groups were accompanied by student escorts who shared their experiences and gave insight into the structure and pathways that Cardozo has to offer.
ACTE is grateful for the enthusiasm and collaboration with Cardozo Education Campus in hosting this insightful event in celebration of CTE Month. Specifically, ACTE extends a warm thank-you to CTE Director Cheryl Rodgers, Mr. Aris Pangilinan and Dr. William Blake from Cardozo, Crystal Smith and Iris Wilson from DCPS, the wonderful guests from the Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, or “OCTAE”, our guests from partner organizations and the generous sponsor for this event, the National Association of Homebuilders.
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