Subscribe to this monthly update here. Career and Technical Education Update December 2021 Preparing students for successful careers through aligned instruction, focusing on leadership and technical skills, in partnership with and for the benefit of our community

Bearcat Entrepreneurs Our Bearcat CTE students recently had the chance to market their handmade products at the Freedom Market at Jester Auto Museum and Event Center. Along with learning about small business, they worked in groups to design and make different products to sell. The vendor show was a huge success! See the advertisement on the W.F. West CTE Instagram account. Pictured below are Madison Teeter, Ellie Clinton, and Hayden Steele Entrepreneurship is the activity of setting up a business, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit. This CTE class allows students the opportunity to use knowledge and skills to have positive social and economic impact in the world. In this class, students demonstrate a level of mathematical skill appropriate for self-employment in a business environment. They read, understand, and prepare a business plan or model, study marketing concepts, and apply their knowledge in the production of something they then sell to others. Having the chance to follow-through on a plan and see their product sold to a consumer is very rewarding. We are proud of these students for their work and happy they had the opportunity to see their effort rewarded at this pop-up store. This kind of event doesn't just happen on its own. We appreciate Entrepreneurship teacher Alison Clinton for all her work with W.F. West CTE students.

Advisory Council Attends ACTE

Members of the CTE Advisory Council recently attended the Association for Career and Technical Education annual conference called CareerTech VISION 2021. The experience was both inspirational and challenging. With over 200 breakout sessions from which to choose, the team had to make some important choices on how to spend their time. In the end, the five most valuable learning experiences, as reported by the five team members were: How Starting Career Development Early Builds a Foundation for Future Success Building a CTE Makerspace that Supports Workforce Success Standards-Based Marketing/Accounting/Business/Entrepreneurship/Economics/Finance Courses, LMS-integrated BusinessU: Standards-aligned business and marketing curriculum The conference helped us remember we are living in a time unlike anything we have ever experienced. Anxiety, stress, and burnout are at an all time high - not just in Chehalis! Keynote speaker and resilience expert Anne Grady capped off the event with science-based recommendations to help us become aware of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. She helped us learn resilience is a set of learned skills, beliefs, and behaviors that we can learn and cultivate. Check out a short video clip of Anne Grady below: