A very special thank you to our CTE Advisory Board, Sub-Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs for your leadership this past year. No doubt, the 2020/2021 school year was unlike any other. Advisory Board members stepped up to ensure teachers and students were supported and encouraged to provide relevant learning opportunities and virtual work-based learning experiences.

During the final CTE Advisory Board of the 2020/2021 school year, each high school recognized industry partners that went above and beyond within their pathway or programs. These partners engaged with teachers and students and provided work-based learning experiences, support with evaluating student presentations, equipment and other resources that were crucial to student success. The 2020/2021 CTE Champions are: Marie Gilbert- Fresno St., Lisa Baladad- Central Valley Health Network, Kim Mesfin & Chris Paris- Affinity Truck Center, GRID Alternatives, Robert Lewallen- Fresno City College, David Robinson- Kings Co. Sheriff's Office, Stephanie Torres- Fresno EOC, QuicLabs, Valley Premier Bank, Alyssa Armesto & Erika Hargis- Tangram Interiors, Valerie Vuicich- Fresno ROP, & Tara Sweeney- WCIS Magazine. Thank you to our CTE Champions!!!

Thank you to all of our amazing industry partners for participating in virtual work-based learning experiences. Through the pandemic, Fresno Unified had over 40,000 work-based learning student engagements!! Click here or the photo to hear from partners about the benefits of work-based learning experiences.

Hoover High School has a new addition to its Public Service Pathway – a police car. The donated police car is an example of the many ways industry partners assist the career technical education programs and pathways at Hoover, and throughout the district. The police car donation came about because Public Service Pathway teacher David Jones is a former Sheriff with numerous contacts in law enforcement. Through his connections, he obtained the police car from Kings County Sheriff David Robinson. Hoover recognized Robinson as its 2021 CTE Champion at the 2021 CTE Advisory Committee Meeting on May 6^th. With the donation of the police car, students are able to try out the radio and become familiar with the technology in the vehicle. 

The Career Technical Education (CTE) Department partnered with Fresno State’s Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to offer a Young Engineers Camp to all kindergarten through 2^nd grade students in the district. This relevant and hands-on learning opportunity encourages creativity and problem solving specific to engineering challenges, including building a suspension bridge, apple crate and an earthquake resistant skyscraper. Students follow the design process by starting with a challenge, brainstorming possible solutions with their peers, and creating prototypes to share with their classmates. The curriculum is built on two books: What Do You Do With a Problem? And What Do You Do With an Idea? (by Kobi Yamada) that encourage literacy while fostering a growth mindset and adaptability within our students. Each student takes home the books to share with their families to increase inclusive opportunities and engage in their student’s educational journey.

In March, 22 juniors and seniors from across the district competed in the 20/21 Teacher Academy Saturday Program Lesson Plan Design and Delivery Competition. Students taught STEM lessons in a distance learning format to mixed groups of peers and elementary aged students. Students were adjudicated on 5 different criteria including quality of instructional activities, completion of the Fresno Unified Lesson Plan Rubric, student engagement, alignment to Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Lessons, and implementation of the lesson. Two students took 3^rd place, two took 2^nd place and FOUR took 1^st place! The 1st place students were Ayomide Akintola (Hoover), Jayme Maga (Patino), Michelle Salazar (Edison) and Xitalic Villanueva Cruz (Bullard).