December 2022| COS.EDU/CTE

Congratulations to COS instructor Charlie Abee for winning the Irrigation Association Excellence in Education Award. Mr. Abee was presented the award this past week at the 2022 Irrigation Show and Education Week in Las Vegas. Mr. Abee has worked diligently to provide the highest quality of irrigation education through the COS Ag Irrigation Academy.

In September, the CTE Career Services team visited with Career Services departments from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cuesta College. The visit provided team building and professional development exercises. The collaboration harvested ideas for both teams in internship development, industry engagement activities, and other best practices in career services.

The Valley Made Manufacturing Summit's annual conference provided workshops, a resource expo, and networking opportunities to continue to build a well-trained, outstanding manufacturing workforce. Members of the CTE team learned about innovative technologies, skills training, and methods to fill workforce demand.

Construction Industry Education Foundation (CIEF), in partnership with Monache Manufacturing and Construction Technology Academy and Tulare County Office of Education, hosted Trades Day at the Porterville Fairgrounds on September 27th.

The event supported career exploration in construction trades for high school students. COS CTE instructors, staff, and students provided welding demonstrations, construction puzzles, and a tabling session during the event.

Connecting Students to Industry

Last week, Lactalis Heritage Dairy opened its doors to our industrial maintenance students for a tour of their plant. The students learned a lot about the facility, career opportunities, and the great work happening at Lactalis in Tulare.

Congratulations to our Welding Instructor and Industry & Technology Division Chair, Randy Emery, on winning the Howard E. Adkins Memorial Membership Instructor Award.

The Howard E. Adkins Instructor Membership Award is sponsored by Mrs. Wilma Adkins and family, and is given as a means of recognizing high school, trade school, technical institute or community college instructors whose teaching activities are considered to have advanced the knowledge of welding to students in their respective schools.

FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

Tessa joined the CTE team this summer as the Administrative Technician for our CTE Dean, Jonna Schengel, on the Tulare campus. Tessa provides supports to CTE, specifically the Industry & Technology Division. She also provides administrative support for various grants, including VTEA, Strong Workforce, and Adult Ed. 

Tessa was born and raised in Porterville, and most recently worked for the Porterville Police Department as an administrative assistant for four years. Tessa is a first-generation college student and graduated from Porterville College with an associate degree in History before transferring to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she earned a bachelor's degree in History. Tessa moved back to the Central Valley to be closer to family and friends and serve the local community.

Stop by A107 on the Tulare Campus to say hi to Tessa!

Produced by College of the Sequoias CTE Team

Jonna Schengel, Dean of CTE & Workforce Development, [email protected]

Chelsea Cushing, Director of CTE, Special Projects & Grants, [email protected]

College of the Sequoias' Career Technical Education (CTE) provides students the opportunity to complete certificates and associate degrees and move into the workforce, or transfer to a four-year institution to continue their education.