September 22, 2016
By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
Bernadette Howard flew 4,331 miles from Honolulu, Hawaii, to get to Nashville and then rode in a car for another 45 miles to visit Oakland High School on Wednesday.
Howard, who is the Director of Career and Technical Education for the Hawaii State Department of Education, was in Tennessee for a conference and decided to extend her trip by an extra day after hearing about the CTE program in Rutherford County.
Less than one hour into her visit, Howard said, “This is very powerful program.”
Howard specifically said Oakland’s program is well-designed and well-supported. She described the Mechatronics room as an “amazing facility” and was impressed with the cleanliness, orderliness and expansive amount of space for students to work.
She was taken with the spaciousness of the entire school and noted that Hawaii, by nature, has limited land and space.
Howard spent time with Leonard Ciletti’s class first and was impressed with the experience Ciletti brings to the classroom.
“There’s a lot of energy and effort being paid to employer engagement,” said Howard, referring to Oakland’s relationships with local corporations such as Nissan, Bridgestone, Schwan Cosmetics and others.
“Just as important is that they are trained to be able to adapt as things change. That’s what they’re going to grow up in. These kids are going to grow up in a very different world than we did,” she added. “They’re building foundations on which more bricks can be laid.”
Howard paid the Wednesday morning visit along with Heather Justice, executive director for Career and Technical Education for the Tennessee Department of Education, Dr. Danielle Mezera, assistant commissioner for College, Career and Technical Education, and Tyra Pilgrim, Career and Technical Education coordinator for Rutherford County Schools.
When Howard reached out and asked to see a “strong model” firsthand while visiting Tennessee, Mezera said there was no doubt they would bring her to Oakland High School.
“It was definitely Rutherford County,” Mezera said, adding, “I view Rutherford County to be one of our gold standard school districts, who really look at the vertical alignment between current technical education, programs of study that are vertically aligned with post-secondary opportunities, which are also vertically aligned with industry needs and opportunities.
“When you look at Rutherford County, what has happened and is still happening within the school district, is looking at what is going on in Rutherford County as a whole. Who is moving into Rutherford County from an employment and industry perspective and then working backwards to see what is the education learning pathway that needs to be there to ensure that the workforce is there and ready for these individuals.”
Howard said that while the primary industries might change from one state to another and the headquarters for corporate brands vary, “everybody is trying and facing the same problems.”
Funding.
Staffing a skilled workforce.
In addition to providing students with the skills needed by local companies, Howard said CTE programs nationwide also look at it from the students’ perspective.
“More and more it’s about looking at middle school kids so we can get them ready” for high school CTE programs and, in turn, give them firsthand experience that will help them choose what field they might want to pursue.
Howard believes doing so helps to make their choices more efficiently and strategically at an earlier age.
“You want them to be happy and not just employed,” Howard said, “so how do you balance all of these things, and the sooner we help them (attempt) different kinds of careers the better the choices are going to be. It helps us plan better.”
She concluded, “It’s encouraging to know that what we’re doing in Hawaii is in line with what you’re doing here.”
PHOTOS / KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
(Top) Bernadetter Howard speaks with students while visiting Suzanne Morrow's health science class Wednesday morning at Oakland High School. (Middle) Howard also visited the Mechatronics classroom, where Leonard Ciletti showed her around the spacious workplace they have for students. (Bottom) Oakland Principal Bill Spurlock welcomed Howard along with representatives from the Tennessee Department of Education, Chamber of Commerce and RCS.