There are many opportu-

nities for our students to

explore and experience

Career and Technical Edu-

cation outside the class-

room in our regions em-

ployers and post-

secondary institutions.

Field trips to a variety of

places increased aware-

ness for students, sites

include: NW IL Building

Trades Expo, The Federal

Reserve, TriRivers Data

Center, Kendall College,

Danfoss, Highland Com-

munity College, Jump

Trading Simulation Center,

Swedish American Hospi-

tal, Freeport Health Net-

work, Local 150 Heavy

Equipment Apprenticeship

& Skill Training Facility,

Blackhawk Technical Col-

lege, to name a few. En-

rollment and grant plan-

ning for 2016-2017 is in

full swing. FY17 state and

federal fund allocations

saw a less than 1% de-

crease and student en-

rollment increased by

3% over last year!

Lastly, I recently had the

opportunity to interview

our Outstanding Student

nominees and Karen

Johnson Scholarship ap-

plicants, which made my

year, as they shared

their positive experienc-

es with CareerTEC’s vari-

ety of programs. Stu-

dents mentioned the val-

ue of our quality instruc-

tors, dual credits, tech-

nical skills, employability

expectations, and work

based learning opportu-

nities, as their most im-

portant experiences in

the program. Hearing

students positive testi-

mony fuels my fire to

continually improve our

regional programs and

grow opportunities for

students and instruc-

tors.

It has been my honor

to serve our region for

the last five years as

System Director and I

look forward to contin-

uing my post in the

years to come provid-

ing quality Career and

Technical Education.

Best Regards,

Jen Newendyke

System Director

CareerTEC, EFE #220

From the Director...

CareerTEC Chronicle

Volume 3, Issue 2

May 2016

“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” ~Ralph Marston

Consortium Member Districts

Dakota#201

Durand #322

Freeport #145

(including Aquin)

Orangeville #203

Pearl City #200

Pecatonica #321

Staff

Jen Newendyke System Director

Jody Ackerman

Bookkeeper

Colleen Mills Administrative Staff

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: CareerTEC Mall of Life 2 Freeport NJROTC 3 Agriculture 3 Outstanding Students 4 Construction: Joey Scibona 4 CIB: Stock Market 5 Overall Outstanding Student 5 Students in the Classroom 6 Welding student: Ethan Connors 7

"There are no secrets

to success. It is the

result of preparation,

hard work, and learn-

ing from failure."

~Colin Powell

CAREERTEC

2037 W. Galena

Ave

Freeport, IL 61032

Phone:

(815) 232-0709

Fax:

(815) 235-8050

We’re on the Web!

See us at:

Mall of Life Event

FREEPORT — About 500 sixth- and seventh-graders took part in a life-skills simulation at Highland Community College focusing on financial literacy.

CareerTEC's Mall of Life, coordinated by Steve Konefes and Colleen Mills, had students actively taking part in real-world adult decisions from Feb. 24th through Feb. 26th. CareerTEC

has offered a financial literacy event since 2000.

Students chose or were assigned a career and then were given a salary in line with that career to spend at the Mall of Life. Students then spent their

income at a set of stores representing expenses most adults and families regularly face, including groceries, student loans, rent or mortgage, medical and car expenses, and child

care.

Students learned to budget the salary and make responsible

decisions about spending, said Jen Newendyke, CareerTEC system director. If students ended up in a professional ca-reer, such as a doctor or lawyer, they also were assigned a

student loan debt in line with the education required.

The students get really excited about the experience, said

Julie Ryan, a sixth-grade Dakota math teacher. The event helps teach students what kinds of decisions their parents and grandparents face and how they make financial decisions.

"It's a different form of playing house," she said.

Students from Aquin, Carl Sandburg, Dakota, Durand, Freeport Middle School, Pearl City,

and Tri-County Christian participated.

Many thanks to 5/3 Bank of Freeport and Unions Savings Bank of Freeport for donating the

checkbooks and to the CareerTEC students and volunteers that ran the “stores”.

Page 2

@careertec

CareerTEC Programs

Auto Body

Auto Mechanics

Careers in Business

Careers in Auto Technology

Computer Information Systems

Construction

Cosmetology

Criminal Justice

Culinary Occupations

Early Childhood Education

Graphic Design

Health Occupations

NJROTC

Welding/Print Reading

Page 3

The Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp (NJROTC) is a citizenship develop-

ment program. This class explores Naval Science and leadership through subjects such as ocean-ography, meteorology, electronics, communica-tions, physical fitness and more. The course pro-vides classroom experi-

ences that emphasize patriotism and develop-

ment of informed and responsible citizens. Student experiences are enriched through

participation in many extra-curricular activ-ities such as the Air Rifle Team. This class will prepare anyone considering joining any of the United States Armed services.

Congratulations to the Freeport HS NJROTC Pretzel marksmanship team on their third place finish at the Civilian Marksmanship Program NE re-gional champion-ships held at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, OH.

Navy Junior Reserve officer training Corp

The agriculture depart-

ment at Freeport High

School is a college and

career preparatory pro-

gram that provides oppor-

tunities for urban and rural students

to study agriculture in order to devel-

op marketable skills for the workforce

and for college. Students in the Ag

department will participate in urban

and rural agriculture production and

sales in order to develop sustainable

ways of feeding our future.

Miss Pierce, teacher of the Agriculture

class, gave us some vital information

about the class, “There are five differ-

ent pathways within agriculture that

we teach in our program. They in-

clude plant science, animal science,

food science, environmental science,

and business.” The depth of the

course goes much deeper than just

the slight signs of agriculture like crop

work and gardening.

Montana Hughes, a member of the

agriculture classes, said she really

enjoyed being dialed into all of her

work and learning so much. “A major

thing that has made a huge impact in

my life is being in the FFA through the

ag department. It has made an impact

because it taught me how much there

is that is not brought to the eye.”

Montana said that what she likes most

is getting her “hands dirty and have

first-hand experience in what people

do in the agriculture industry every

day.” Katie Walsh said that the class

provides a

good oppor-

tunity to learn

valuable infor-

mation that

can be used

outside of

school.

The Freeport FFA is definitely a ma-

jor contribution to kid’s success

when wanting to pursue anything in

the Agriculture field. This class has

definitely brought a twinkle to many

individuals’ eyes not only benefiting

them for their future but also making

them better people by working to

help the community. This class is a

must for anybody that wants to pur-

sue anything involved with the Agri-

Focus on Local CTE Agriculture

Only Good Things Said From a Cur-rent NJROTC Student

Matthew Thomalla is a current Aquin senior who broke a barrier for Aquin Catholic High School. He is the first Aquin student in school history to en-

roll in the NJROTC program at Freeport High School. He has broken the barrier for future Aquin students to be a part of the class. When Matthew was inter-viewed, he had only great things to say in regards to the class. When Matthew was asked to give a brief description of the class, he described it as a class

dedicated to preparing students for any military career. When asked why he took the class, Matthew said that he plans to enter the military, specifically the Marine Corp., thus why he enrolled in the NJROTC class. In addition, it

gives students a good idea of what to expect in their future military careers. Matthew was asked what his favorite part of the NJROTC class is and also about the most important thing he has learned. The most important point Mat-thew has learned is discipline, which is a crucial aspect of military life. His fa-vorite part of the class includes physi-

cal training (known as “PT” in the military) and learning to orienteer, which is using a map and compass to find your way around wooded land. The NJROTC class has caused Mat-thew to really consider the cost and benefits of a military life. He said the

NJROTC class tends to turn about 50% of students away from a military career while it causes 50% to become more committed to it. Matthew Thomalla plans to enter the Marines after graduation and will work to become a Marine Scout Snip-er in the future.

Page 4

INDIVIDUAL PROGRAM OUTSTANDING STUDENT WINNERS:

Rachel Brawner Freeport Early Childhood Education

Torey Ballard Pearl City Health Occupations

Ethan Connors Freeport Welding/Print Reading

Haylee Craft Pecatonica Health Occupations II

Nathan Lameyer Pecatonica Computer Information Systems

Colby Smith Aquin Careers in Business

Lili Smith Freeport Culinary Occupations

Vaun Truckenmiller Freeport Health Occupations

Angela Zavolokoff Dakota Graphic Design

FY16 Outstanding Students

The CareerTEC Construction Trades Youth Apprenticeship Year I is a

hands-on-program all about learning how to build and remodel houses. The class provides on-site construction skills from laborer to architect.

After learning about and receiving safety and construction instruction in a classroom site, the students construct various things like a family housing unit from foundation to roof and other similar building struc-

tures. Different construction careers include: carpenter, electrician, plumber, heating and air conditioning technician, dry-walling, construction technician as was as manager, and ar-

chitect. Construction Trades gives students an opportunity to earn OSHA 10 hour certifica-tion with the support of area industries. This is an important class to take the first step toward success within the construction trades industry.

Joey Scibona goes to Pecatonica High School and is in 12th grade. We

interviewed Joey about his thoughts and viewpoints about his class, Con-

struction Trades. This is Joey’s second year taking the class. He took this

class because he wants to go into the construction industry after school.

We asked Joey what the most important thing he has learned in the class

and he said that he thinks, all around, construction was the most im-

portant class to take. He likes everything about the class; he states, “The thing that I like

most about the class is that I get actual experiences on the job site.” This class has mainly

influenced Joey by preparing him for a job in a field that he is planning to go into. After high

school, Joey plans on becoming an electrician.

Construction Trades

Overall Outstanding Student: Colby Smith from Aquin High School

Karen Johnson Scholarship Winner: Lili Smith from Freeport High School

Page 5

CIB Students Experience the Ups and Downs

of the Stock Market

It is a pleasure to announce Colby Smith, Aquin High School

senior in the CareerTEC Careers in Business program as the Overall Outstanding Student. Careers in Business focuses on

personal finance and entrepreneurship, while incorporating business communications, retailing, advertising, Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, ethics, and employability skills. Colby is

an exceptional student that has many goals and the motiva-tion, positive attitude, and skills to achieve his goals, ac-

cording to his nominating instructor, Mrs. Haight. Colby’s immediate post-secondary plan is to attend college in North Dakota for commercial aviation and airport management.

He then plans to use his entrepreneurial spirit to own and

operate a private corporate aviation company.

This year the Business students played an online Stock Market Game where they competed to create the best-

performing portfolio using live trading simulation. In the Stock Market Game, students were given a virtual $100,000

to buy stocks, mutual funds and bonds. After spending time analyzing and researching companies, the students

made their decisions regarding which stocks to purchase and which to short sell. They quickly found out the relation-

ship between risk and reward!

Instructor Tammy Haight says, “The Stock Market Game is true learning by doing. In building their portfolios, students

research and evaluate stocks and make decisions after first learning how the economy works. The students are mak-

ing important, relevant, financial decisions and are seeing the consequences

for themselves. Every day the students check their portfolio, and their rankings,

and talk about investing in real life. It encourages higher level thinking along

with teamwork like no other activity can. Students who participate in The Stock

Market Game program learn more than investing…they gain an education for

life! They have to understand how the economy works to understand how

stocks work; they have to understand math to compute their gains and losses;

they have to be able to read and analyze current events in order to ask the right

questions and do the research. My students love the competitive nature of the

game and have fun comparing portfolio gains and losses!”

When the session opened in January, the Stock Market in general experienced a downturn so students quickly lost

money. Over the course of the 16 weeks, most students’ portfolios recovered from those losses, but the students

had to learn to not panic, that investing is for the long term (and not for the faint of heart!)

SMG is true learning by doing. The students made important, relevant, financial decisions and saw the consequences

for themselves. Suddenly the financial news and Jim Cramer became interesting! These are lessons they will remem-

ber and apply in life.

CareerTEC Over-All Outstanding Student

Careers in Business student: Colby Smith

Page 6

CareerTEC classes promote collaborative work among groups of students, integrating learning experiences that occur outside the classroom and, above all, fostering learner independence.

This student-centered approach benefits all students.

CIB students using Socrative method collaborative activities:

HOYA students participating in a "celebrity speed dating" activity to learn

about medical malpractice and negligence.

Cosmetology students practice their skills on mannequin heads.

Auto Body Instructor, Todd Vacek, helping out a student.

Computer Information Systems Instructor, Craig Danekas,

checking out the inner working of a computer with students.

Construction students building a 2 story garage/apartment.

Early Childhood Education instruction with Pat Hickey.

Graphic Design with Heather Cornelius

See What Students Are Doing in the Classroom

Page 7

Welding Fabrication & Print Reading

Print Reading and Welding is a growing industry. Skilled welders, who work on various pro-jects in the United States, are in high demand. Students at CareerTEC’s welding and print reading class are learning the real life skills they will need to have a career in the industry.

Ethan Connors is a first year student in the welding and print reading class. He was asked the following questions:

Why did you take welding and print reading? “It is something that sounded interesting and I wanted to

give it a try.”

What is the most important thing you have learned? “Welding has a lot more to it than just fitting pieces togeth-

er.”

What do you like most about the class? “I am earning a lot of college credits and getting classes out of the way early. This will give

me a jump on everybody else.”

What have you learned? “The welding process is a lot longer and more intricate than I thought it was originally.”

What are your plans after high school?

“I plan to finish my degree at Highland, then transfer to a Milwaukee Area Technical School to major in HVAC.”

Instructor Aaron Sargent told us that over the course of the year he teaches stu-dents the skills needed to read and interpret industrial drawings. Students are also taught the basics of Computer Aided Drafting in the Intro to CAD

course. Students who take this class are preparing for careers in manufacturing, for example, CNC Machining, Welding, Automation, Engineering, etc. Students take field trips to local businesses such as Danfoss right here in Freeport where

students were able to see high-tech machining and automation/robotics.

When asked what he would like to tell potential students, he said that Print Reading and In-spection as well as CAD Drafting are essential building block courses for a wide variety of ca-

reers. The manufacturing economy in the United States has made a strong come-back. Careers opportunities in manufacturing will explode as this comeback continues and as the aging population holding many of these jobs begins to

retire. Aaron encourages anyone who is looking for a ca-reer path to consider the many opportunities available to them in manufacturing. Highland Community College of-

fers a wide range of Certificates and Degrees related to CNC Machining, Welding, Engineering, Wind Tech., Elec-tronics, Maintenance and Mechatronics.