CTE at the Core is the New York City Department of Education’s eminent Career and Technical Education (CTE) month kickoff conference. The conference is a collaborative convening of hundreds of educators, administrators, industry experts and political leaders. “Helping Students Map Their Futures,”  was this year’s focus.   Student mapping is intended to support students before, during and after their H.S. career, to best align them for success in college and in the workplace.  Several distinguished speakers including UFT President Michael Mulgrew, Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, Chancellor Farina, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and PFNYC President Kathy Wylde set the charge for the day. Chancy Lennon, MD Global Philanthropy JPMorgan Chase provided the keynote address.

Held on February 1st, 2016, this year’s conference was overwhelmingly successful and sponsored by the NYC Department of Education, the United Federation of Teachers, and the Citywide CTE Advisory Council; with support from, the CTE Technical Assistance Center of New York State; OPSR; NAF; the Association for Career and Technical Education, and the Association for Career and Technical Education.  

Thomas Edison CTE High School students competed in the NY Automotive Technology Competition as if they were technicians working at a dealership, fixing issues ranging from cars not starting to making sure the windshield wipers work properly. Each team had to complete  their work for an auto inspection within three hours.  Nicholas Bhurasingh and Julio Pineda from Thomas Edison won the competition. 

The New York Technology Council honored Principal, April McKoy and Partnership Coordinator, Ellen Hogarty at the Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology, for their excellence in community service in the areas of Workforce Development.  This award is presented annually to an individual or institution that has contributed significantly to developing the New York tech workforce.
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NYTECH President and CEO Erik K. Grimmelmann stated that in his interactions over the past several years with Principal McKoy and the Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology, he has been consistently impressed with the dedication with which the administration, faculty and students at the school approach the teaching and learning of tech skills.  “All one has to do is spend a few hours in a classroom at the UA Gateway School for Technology to see that, at least there in midtown Manhattan, the tech future of New York is in good hands.”  He added that “It is essential that New York develops a workforce skilled in tech and it’s exciting to see what’s happening at the UA Gateway School for Technology.”

Last year’s recipient of this award was Angie Kamath, Executive Director of Per Scholas..

Highlight 1

Recently CTE teachers took the initiative of refreshing their CTE classrooms by updating lab environment, lab equipment and embedding real world related labs. Our electrical instructor, Mr. J. Martinez, has his classes help him change the classroom environment by moving away from working on electrical boards to actually building a house inside his classroom. This is the first time in Transit Tech’s history where students are constructing an actual house. The main purpose of the house is for students to learn about wiring up the entire electrical circuit. This real world lab practice will help prepare students for SkillsUSA Electrical certification exam as well as find entry level employment right after high school.  

Another example of creativity inside CTE classroom is Mr. G. Garcia’s project with his students related to College and Career exploration.  Mr. G. Garcia’s student Fidel Molina along with his classmates constructed a subway map on a display board. The subway map was hand drawn and includes a list of Colleges and their stops. Students are able to see their college of interest and immediately see the geographical location of each colleges and universities. Additionally, Mr. Garcia created a computer lab inside his electrical classroom in order for students to conduct research on various career clusters and post-secondary institutions. 

Highlight 2

Our robotics team had their first competition this past Sunday February 7th, 2016. They made it to the semi-finals and were runner up and received the judges choice award. Our robotic team is comprised of 10th, 11th and 12th graders and the team meets 3 times a week to work on their FRC robots. We are very excited to start our robotic team and we look forward to participating in SkillsUSA competition in the near future.

Highlight 3

We are now part of National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). One of our alumni is now the president of NSBE in CUNY City Tech chapter and he introduced NSBE to ALL of our students. It’s a great organization to be a part of and below is a brief history about NSBE.

Since 1975, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) has been committed to cultivating and promoting the academic and professional success of African-American engineering students and professionals. NSBE started at a national conference hosted by the Society of Black Engineers at Purdue University. Forty-eight concerned students from the U.S. and Canada joined Purdue students to establish an organization to help increase the number of African- American engineers and improve retention.

With more than 35,700 members in the U.S., Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean, NSBE is one of the largest student-governed organizations based in the U.S. NSBE now has 242 active chapters on college and university campuses, 82 NSBE Jr. chapters for middle and high school students, and 70 Alumni Extension chapters and interest groups for technical professionals.

Through a variety of programs and activities, NSBE offers its members the tools needed to succeed in every engineering discipline, while supplying a talented engineering workforce to its Board of Corporate Affiliates (BCA), other sponsors and strategic partners, and the world.

On January 14th, 2016, 24 Virtual Enterprise firms, representing each of the five boroughs, braced the early morning cold fronts to attend the New York Citywide Business Plan Competition, hosted at the United Federation of Teachers. Each firm had 10 minutes to pitch their company to a panel of diverse judges for a chance to make it to the National Business Plan Competition.

The morning session of the competition was divided into two rounds, which included 10 minute presentations and the Q&A session. Each of the 24 firms presented to a panel of 6 industry professionals, alumni, and VE advisory board members, leading to eight finalist firms for the afternoon round. After an intense round of strong presentations, the top teams of the day were Brooklyn's Sweet & Savory in first, Avant-garde Furnishings in second, and Concierge Ticket Brokers in third.

NEW YORK CITY (November 17, 2015) – The New York Oil Heating Association (NYOHA) is helping a teacher in Bronx, NY, incorporate clean-burning Bioheat® fuel as a teaching tool in an interdisciplinary approach to HVAC training.

Peter Gonzalez is teaching the science of Bioheat® fuel – as well as math, chemistry and English – to 17 Bronx Design and Construction Academy juniors this fall, with NYOHA’s support. In addition to arranging for 150 gallons of pure B100 Bioheat® fuel and equipment to be donated by AMERIgreen Energy and Schildwachter Oil Company, Rocco Lacertosa, NYOHA’s CEO and a member of the school’s HVAC Advisory Board, recently visited the classroom to speak directly to the students.

Alexter Thompson, student at Hillcrest HS, Queens, argues for the NYC prosecution as Pretoria's defense team prepares their arguments.

On January 22, 2016, teams of high school students from NYC, U.S.A. and Pretoria, South Africa emerged as the two finalists from a total of 16 teams from around the world to argue their case in front of four International Criminal Court (ICC) judges at the Peace Palace. The final round ended with South Africa's team winning first place and the NYC team placing second out of approximately 120 students.

For the third year, the JRC in cooperation with the City Hall of The Hague coordinated the biannual International Moot Court at The Hague for high school students. The 2016 case was about war crimes and crimes against humanity in the fictional country of Cheketalo. The case was written by an ICC attorney, and reviewed by a committee of attorneys from The Hague and NYC. Students prepared their arguments based upon the Rules of Procedure and Evidence adopted by The Assembly of States Parties for the ICC. Students participated in multiple-elimination rounds at Leiden University Law School from January 19-21, 2016. Two teams from NYC, U.S.A., coached by NYC law firms, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP/ Arnold & Porter LLP and Clifford Chance LLP / Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, competed in the rounds. The all-star teams were made up of high school juniors and seniors from 10 different public high schools from across the five boroughs of NYC.  

The student selection process varies from all-star teams to school teams with specific criteria for student selection enabling students from various socio-economic backgrounds to participate. One of the goals of the International Moot Court is to encourage countries across the globe to build thriving student leagues with local and national Moot Court competitions, leading to greater participation at the international level. The Justice Resource Center is looking forward to bringing more teams to the competition for 2018!

Big changes are coming to the FAFSA.  This fall, students will be able to file for aid using prior-prior year (PPY) tax data. And for the first time, the form will be made available starting Oct. 1. 
 
NACAC has created downloadable fact sheets, available now on their website aimed at families, college counselors, and admission professionals.  In addition to addressing the practical effects of PPY, the resources outline actions counselors on both sides of the desk can take to ensure students’ best interests are served during the transition. 

Apply Now to attend Exciting Science and STEM Enrichment Programs during Spring Break!

Open to students in Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 who have successfully completed Living Environment
Monday, April 25 to Friday, April 29, 2016
Camp begins at 9:00 AM and ends at 4:00 PM Monday-Thursday; 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM Friday

Interested in molecular genetics and modern biotechnology? Wish you had more time in the lab at school? Want to learn more about DNA? Apply now to attend DNA Science Camp at the Harlem DNA Lab during Spring Break! DNA Science Camp provides extensive lab experience with the basic techniques of recombinant DNA, including DNA restriction and ligation, bacterial transformation, and plasmid isolation. Campers will perform the entire lab sequence from the popular DNA Sciencetext and will receive their own copy of the text to keep. Students in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 who successfully completed Living Environment are eligible to apply.

Click here for more information and to apply.

Deadline: March 20, 2016

The Morris and Eve Brown Foundation will be presenting several awards of  $2,000.  To be eligible, a candidate must:    

Be a high school senior graduating from a New York City public school.
Have demonstrated excellence in the field of language.
Begin college level studies in the Fall of 2016 majoring in language (either English or foreign).

Applications must be submitted by mail and must include:

A copy of the student’s high school transcript;
Student’s social security number; and
Letter(s) of recommendation from English and/or Foreign Language teachers. Please note the foundation can only process letters written in English.Also note that letters of recommendations should  ONLY be from faculty who teach in the fields of English Language Arts or Foreign Language).
Optional: Students may also include a piece of their own writing for review. However, only compositions written in English will be reviewed since trustees are not able to evaluate items written in other languages.

Submitted applications must be postmarked no later than March 20, 2016.  For questions, please contact Paul S. Sibener, Esq. at psibeneresq@gmail.com.

Deadline: April 15, 2016

The NYC DOE Office of Guidance and School Counseling is currently accepting applications for the 2016 Charles Robertson Scholarship. To be eligible, a candidate must be a high school senior scheduled to graduate from a Brooklyn public high school this June.

Charles E. Robertson was President of the School Board of the Borough of Brooklyn from 1899 to 1902. As stipulated in his will established in 1937, Charles E. Robertson’s Estate awards a scholarship to one male graduate and one female graduate from a Brooklyn public high school each year,“…not merely on the basis of scholarship, but of equal importance, character, and deportment.”  Please note this scholarship is a one time award estimated at $400 given to each recipient.

Applications must be submitted by mail and must include:

1.     The completed application form
2.     Copy of most recent high school transcript
3.     Nomination letter (from the school principal, counselor, or teacher)
4.     Student personal statement essay (Typed, double-spaced and between 250-500 words), responding to the following question:  If you had to write an autobiography, what would the title be and why?

Further information is available in the application package.  Submitted applications must be postmarked no later thanApril 15, 2016.  For questions, please contactMargarita Suero-Duran.

The National Technical Honor Society (NTHS) and I are pleased to invite you and your CTE Advocate(s) to the “Technology Career Expo” at Thomas A. Edison Career & Technical High School on the morning of Saturday, April 16th, 2016, 9-12 noon.  Because this event is to take place in the Spring of 2016 our primary target is to encourage Grade 7 students and parents to participate to possibly have those students attend Edison in the Fall of 2017. However, all NYC students and parents of Middle Schools are welcome.
 
On behalf of children who seek outstanding careers in technology, we hope you will join us for a day to witness the current state of Career & Technical Education here at Edison HS, in the city and on the national stage. But most of all, to see the actual “Live” CTE work on display by the Edison HS students in the exhibit space.
 
The following is a wide variety of personnel that I believe will affect CTE in NYC as well impact CTE at Thomas Edison HS moving forward;
·         Middle School guidance personnel
·         Middle School PTA affiliates
·         Middle School Parents with their children
·         Queens education affiliates and officials
·         Industry Partners
·         NYC political figures
 
 
Please contact me if you will be attending so I may add your name to the list of attendees.
 
Thank you!
 
 
Alexander C. Bell
NYC-CTE, Teacher
CTE Representative, Thomas A. Edison CTE HS
NYSUT/AFT, Delegate
MOUSE Squad, Advisor
NTHS, Advisor
CompTIA Certified Technician: A+, N+
Office: 718.297.6580 x1111
Email: abell3@schools.nyc.gov