January 2016 Student Round Table

SCSD CTE Advisory Board Meeting

January 14, 2016

Notes and impressions from the Advisory Board Student Round table

First, I want to thank all of the students and alumni that were involved with this. I know that I felt it was one of our better meetings, and that was largely due to these remarkable young adults. It says a lot that they are willing to go above and beyond what is expected of them to do these types of events. There are short bios of the majority of the students that participated on the back of the agenda. I asked the other teachers that were at the meeting to help me to get these notes down, and our impressions were pretty similar. The forum was truly open, and people were allowed to ask any questions they wanted. In ‘prepping’ the participants we told them to answer honestly and that they would be fine.

For me, the biggest take away from this part of the meeting was how much the students really appreciated their teachers and what they did for them. This theme of caring and making the kids know that their teachers really cared was the dominant theme from each student.

· One student talked about how circumstances were bad at home, and he allowed those issues to interfere with his school life and impact his classes. His teachers noticed and let him know that they cared and did not let him go down that path.

· Another student talked about how one of her teachers bought her an alarm clock which helped her to fix her tardy problem.

A second take away that was big, and not unrelated had to do with the alum. When asked whether they thought we could have done something different to help prepare them better, the students all said something related to us giving them too many chances to hand things in late. That at college, due dates really meant due dates. They were also asked about whether they felt their classes at SCLA were challenging enough. I know that the person asking the question meant all of their classes, but the students took it to mean their pathway classes. They answered that they did feel very prepared and they were ahead of their college peers. I know that the answer is a little different for some of the already mentioned reasons when we look at all of their classes.

Perhaps the best summary of this theme that tied it into the first theme was the alum that said, “Stop coddling your students. Well, coddle them a little, just not so much.”

The final take away that many got from the round table is that the kids did well within their pathways because they were doing something that they loved. One girl espoused that she loved food, and that culinary was the natural fit. Another one used to go on construction jobs with her dad and realized she loved design and wanted to be the person designing the buildings.

When asked if any of the students thought that they would do as well if they were at the main campus, none of them put up their hands. One graduate summed up the need for our programs the best and most objectively. She stated that the programs here are great, but they were not necessarily better than the ones at the main campus. What the school needs is variety so that kids can find the one that fits them and do well with it.

The students and Alumni that were gracious enough to participate on the round table were:

Brandon Brown is an 11^th grader in the CAD program. He is OSHA Certified and should receive a CTE CAD endorsement when he graduates. He is currently on the Varsity Football team and plays defensive tackle, offensive tackle and defensive end. He is hoping to go to HVCC and is leaning toward a construction trade or engineering path. He will probably start in general studies or liberal arts. He is planning to play football for HVCC.

Carlos Soto is an 11^th grader in the culinary program. He should receive a CTE culinary endorsement when he graduates. He is on the lacrosse team. He is hoping to go to HVCC and is leaning toward a career in culinary. His ultimate goal is to own his own restaurant in a major city.

Amrita Marks is a 12^th grader in the CNA program at VOTEC and CAD program at SCLA. She is also taking and has taken culinary classes. She is OSHA Certified and should receive a CTE CAD and CNA endorsement. She should be getting her ServeSafe certification as well as her CAD certification. She is hoping to go to HVCC and is leaning toward either Nursing or a med tech field.

Shakeema Jackson is a 12^th grader in the culinary program. She is hoping to go to HVCC and is leaning toward becoming a physical therapist or nursing student.

Marcell Thomas is an 11^th grader from SHS in the culinary program at SCLA. He is hoping to go to SCCC and eventually wants to open his own restaurant in a major city. Marcell also plays the French horn in band. He should receive a CTE endorsement for culinary.

Tevin Martinez is a 12^th grader in the CAD and Culinary programs. He is ServeSafe Certified, and should get a CTE endorsement for Culinary. He is currently working on his OSHA certification. He is enlisted in the Army and is scheduled to leave for basic training July 12^th. He plans to be a career soldier, but has a back-up plan for teaching SPED. He has been on the Lacrosse team and the wrestling team.

Matt Gardner is a SCLA Graduate from 2015. He took classes in the CAD program and was on the honor roll. He received the Dress-Down Scholarship. He is currently working at the JCC, and going to school full-time at Schenectady County Community College. He plans to go on in school to get his Bachelors, and possibly will pursue a Master’s degree as well.

Brenda Parker is a SCLA Graduate from 2015. She earned a CTE endorsement for CAD. She also earned the Vanguard Award in her junior year. In her senior year she earned the Connie Bailey and Linda Lombardi Scholarship. She also had the highest GPA from the graduates from SCLA that year. She just finished her first semester at HVCC where she is taking classes in Architecture. She plans to transfer to RPI to finish her studies and wants to be a famous designer of homes and commercial buildings. She works about 10 hours per week in a part time job.

Yashmini Sewpersaud is a SCLA graduate from 2014. She is attending Schenectady County Community College where she is majoring in Business Administration. She plans to graduate either later this year or early next depending on the summer classes she can take. She earned a CTE endorsement for Office Management. She also received her OSHA and Microsoft Office Specialist certifications. She is currently looking for a job or an internship. She had put in her paperwork to volunteer with the school, but she never heard back from the district.