Welcome to the latest news about college and career development within Forsyth County Schools! Students enrolled in career and technical education courses are reaping the benefits of the many public/private business partnerships our school system has to offer, including connections to high graduation rates. The purpose of career and technical education in our system is to provide ongoing partnerships between education and business/industry to prepare the students of Forsyth County with the skills necessary to meet world-class standards, successfully continue life-long learning, and enter the marketplace as productive citizens. 

As we enter the fall competition season, students at both middle school and high school levels will begin their Fall Leadership Opportunities through the many CTSO’s - Career Tech Student Organizations. Those include DECA, FBLA, FCCLA, FFA, SkillsUSA, TSA, and HOSA. As you will see evidenced through the content provided in this newsletter, our students are taking an active role in the many leadership opportunities provided through participation.

As we continue to grow the resources available for students and teachers, please let our office know how your occupation and life experiences can help influence our programs and consider becoming a partner with us. For more information about career and technical education in Forsyth County, visit www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/ccd or email vlowe@forsyth.k12.ga.us. 

Dr. Valery Lowe, Director of College and Career Development
General Information and Opportunities to Get Involved
  Click here  for a deeper look into the career pathway offerings available for students in Forsyth County. This guide contains specific school-related information, as well as more specifics around CCD initiatives ongoing throughout the year!
Alliance Academy for Innovation of Cumming-Forsyth County will provide secondary, post-secondary, and continuing education for individuals, organizations, small businesses, and corporations, along with financial literacy and business ethics training for middle school students through Junior Achievement. The 9-12 high school career development opportunities will not duplicate career pathways at existing base high schools but will focus on high-demand, high-growth occupations in our region allowing students to work in simulated work environments and earn industry credentials and college credit. Alliance Academy for Innovation is slated to open in 2018-19 and will include the career pathway options listed below. For more information, email vlowe@forsyth.k12.ga.us. 
  • Aeronautics
  • Distribution and Logistics
  • Energy Systems
  • Fire and Emergency Services
  • Graphic Design
  • Healthcare Information Technology
  • Healthcare Therapeutic Services - EMS
  • Hospitality and Tourism
  • Law Enforcement Services
  • Legal Services
  • Mechatronics
By becoming a Career Path Partner with Forsyth County Schools, your organization allows students to go beyond the classroom and into the community to consider different career fields, learn basic workplace behavior, and develop specific skills within an industry. Through these experiences, students can apply what they are learning in the classroom as they prepare to transition into post-secondary education and training.

Click here for the Career Path Partner form or here to download a PDF version.
Recent Career Path Partners formalizing their partnership include: 
NAPA, Lanier Technical College, Snap-On Tools, Andean Chevrolet, Lexus Training Center,  Lueder Larking & Hunter, LLC, My Forsyth, Tam's Backstage, Apex Controls, American Institute of Architects, and Georgia Apartment Industry Education Foundation!
School Spotlights
South Forsyth MS HOSA
South Forsyth MS is the largest middle school HOSA Chapter in the Nation! The following students brought home national awards: Abdullah Chandasir- 3rd Place in Medical Terminology, Sparsh Talati-  2nd place in Healthy Lifestyles, Isabella Rakhlis- 1st Place in Healthy Lifestyles, Tarini Gajelli and Vishnavi Batchu- 1st place in Health Career Display, and Sukrutha Suthari- 1st place in Extemporaneous Health Poster. 
Lambert HS Teacher of the Year
Laura King was recently named the 2016-2017 Teacher of the Year at Lambert HS and will represent CTAE in the next round of district competition. Ms. King is a Culinary Arts instructor and FCCLA Advisor and is beginning her fourth year in Forsyth County.

Forsyth Central HS DECA
Forsyth Central HS DECA Officer candidates were officially inducted in September. After signing a contract listing their duties and responsibilities, each officer received a lapel pin and formal certificate for their office. Officers stated they feel more invested in their roles and rededicated themselves to meet this year's chapter goals.

West Forsyth HS Engineering
Stan Jensen of North Georgia Drones served as a guest speaker in the engineering classes at West Forsyth HS. He also did a drone demonstration for students that was featured in the Forsyth County News.  Click here  to check out the article. 
North Forsyth HS Agriculture & FFA
North Forsyth HS agriculure classes have 100% membership in FFA. All of those students have supervised agriculture experience projects and will invest over 1,000 combined hours outside of school. Students have also competed in various Career Development Events across the state, including exhibiting livestock at the Georgia National Fair. They will also be traveling to Louisville in November to show Lambs at the North American Livestock Expo. 
Forsyth Central HS  Automotive 
Teacher Marlo Miranda was selected as the NATEF Byrl Shoemaker/ASE Industry Education Alliance Instructor of the Year. Also a teacher in automotive technology, Clayton Bradley was just named a 2016 ASE Alliance Instructor honoree. Congratulations, Marlo and Clayton!
National Manufacturing Day
Engineering students from Forsyth Central HS, Lambert HS, North Forsyth HS and West Forsyth HS participated with the Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce to celebrate National Manufacturing Day on October 7th. National Manufacturing Day is a celebration across the country of modern manufacturing meant to inspire the next generation of manufacturers. Students toured local manufacturing companies including Motovario, Metcam, S and S Technical, and Hansgrohe.
North Forsyth HS FBLA
Kurt Knaut, FBLA member at North Forsyth HS, placed 8th in Network Design Team at the FBLA National Leadership Conference held in Atlanta in July 2016. 
Forsyth County EV  Racing
A Forsyth County Electric Vehicle Race was held on September 10th at the Cumming Fairgrounds. It was a great kickoff to the season, as a team from Forsyth Central HS placed 1st and South Forsyth HS placed 3rd. Other schools from across Georgia also participated in the event. Students/teams will next participate with TSA in Jekyll Island in November.
Forsyth Central HS DECA "GO GREEN" Campaign
Forsyth Central HS DECA recently completed three "GO GREEN" Community Service Projects. DECA members prepped and marked storm drains throughout Mary Alice Rd and labeled over 30 storm drains in order to increase awareness of where the drains lead and to deter those who litter and dump trash. Second, 30 DECA members picked up trash at Mary Alice Park. Students combed the woods, trails and shore lines of Lake Lanier and collected a remarkable 22 bags of trash! The third project was a campus beautification project where members planted twelve Green Giant Trees along the ridge between the new building and the automotive lot.  
South Forsyth MS Marketing
Sixth grade marketing students at South Forsyth MS recently participated in the Verizon Innovative App Challenge where they came up with an idea for an app that would benefit our community. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBdXXlW3mXFF4k_M6HCB4Kzc37xtXnycJ
Lambert HS Audio/Video
A/V Technology classes at Lambert HS are working on producing a video developed by Forsyth County teachers Lauren Herring, and Cristina Dumitru. The purpose of this video is to increase awareness of Forsyth County students of visual impairment. “It’s been amazing getting to see our students come together and develop this project from start to finish" says Mr. Jason Friend, teacher at Lambert HS. Several of the students appearing in the video are in-fact students of visual impairment. “It’s so impressive, because this is essentially a student-led production…and watching our visually impaired students act and contribute meaningfully, it strengthens the message we’re trying to convey.” 

The completed video will release in mid October. Stay tuned to @LHS_Live on Twitter for more information.
North Forsyth HS TSA
NFHS Technology Student Association recently competed in TSA Tech Day at the GA State Fair in Perry. Sophomores Tasfia Hussain, Katie Jordan, Kaitlyn Kosten, and Drew Nizialek  earned first place for the design of their Rube Goldberg machine. NFHS's Rube Goldberg machine utilized various simple machines such as a pulley, 4 inclined planes, 3 wedges, 2 levers, a screw to stand a tee up vertically from the horizontal position and place a golf ball on top in a maximum of 60 seconds. 
Lambert HS Food and Nutrition & Culinary Arts - FCCLA
Lambert HS FCCLA members implemented a #leafittospinach campaign where researched and created spinach recipes to spread excitement of spinach. They received 3rd place for their brochure.
North Forsyth MS Engineering
Mr. Welsch's 6th grade students recently explored the foundations of flight and space with bottle rockets. Students learned about the forces of drag, thrust, and gravity, as well as Newton's laws, and how they can be leveraged to make the best rockets.
LEAD CTAE
LEAD CTAE is a new state leadership program specifically for CTAE instructors. Congratulations to Marlo Miranda, Forsyth Central HS, for being selected as a participant during the 2016-17 school year! Marlo will represent Forsyth County at numerous professional development events being held throughout the state.
South Forsyth HS Marketing
South Forsyth HS's Introduction to Fashion Marketing class is creating promotions to increase the number of people who sell clothes to Platos Closet, a retail store in Cumming that sells gently used teen and young adult style clothing and accessories. Also, M arketing and Entrepreneurship classes are working with Georgia Balfour to rebrand the class ring tradition at South Forsyth HS and positively impact sales. 
National FBLA
Congratulations to Lambert HS, South Forsyth HS, and Riverwatch MS for being a FBLA Big Ten Chapter! Big Ten is the list of the largest 10 HS and MS Chapters in the country. 
Liberty MS Greenhouse Project
Thanks to the North Forsyth Rotary Club and many community leaders, Liberty MS dedicated a tunnel house for the newly developed agriculture science program. An "old fashioned barn raising" was held on October 17th to celebrate this important addition to the school!
Technology Association of Georgia STEM Education Awards
Workforce Forsyth, the local framework for career and technical education in Forsyth County, has recently been nominated for a STEM Education Award being named on November 4th at The Loudermilk Center in Atlanta. These awards honor Georgia schools, programs, and companies for outstanding efforts and achievements in supporting and promoting science, technology, engineering, and math education. Whitlow ES in Forsyth County is also an award nominee.