Does your student have an interest in working in the hospitality industry?  Are they considering applying for a job at one of the many resorts in the Valley – or a golf course – or a fun tourist attraction in Scottsdale?

CTE Teacher Marc Telep, at Desert Mountain High School, brings real-world experiences to his CTE students by creating partnerships with leading hotels, resorts, restaurants, sporting events venues, nursing homes, and many more. The CTE students in the Hospitality Management program most recently received a personal, behind-the-scenes tour with several hospitality employers right here in our own backyard. Mr. Telep’s class took a field trip tour with Chris Bonnell, Director of Marketing for the Talking Stick Entertainment District, to learn more about tourism and job opportunities. One of the stops on the tour was Octane and Mavrix, where students met with COO JP Mullan.  Mr. Mullan and other hospitality professionals discussed with the students the key components to hospitality employment success, management strategies, profit building, and job creation. 

Mr. Telep is in his 9th year with DMHS, teaching finance and hospitality management pathways. Mr. Telep has created multiple partnerships with local organizations such as the Scottsdale Princess, Gainey Hyatt Regency, Valley Ho Resort, Salt River Travel Bureau, EVIT (East Valley Institute of Technology), Scottsdale Community College, and Grand Canyon University that help bring his classes to life with guest speakers throughout the year. In addition, students get hands-on experience at DMHS by partnering with the school’s lunchroom team, building their résumé at an early age. 

Mr. Telep plays the role of business manager in his classroom simulations and mentors his students by instilling the idea that "attitude is altitude" in the world of work. By creating trust and a good learning bond with his students, Mr. Telep is able to teach the importance of professional skills, as well as provide motivation for students to develop a career pathway.

If you want to learn more about this program, please visit our hospitality overview page, or visit our CTE website and click on Programs at www.susd.org/CTE to see all of the career pathways SUSD offers.

If you are an employer or community member interested in partnering with SUSD CTE, please reach out to Vern Nicholas at vnicholas@susd.org.

Read more at The SUSD Source

SUSD offers a variety of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs at our comprehensive high schools. CTE programs focus on technical and professional skills that prepare students for post-secondary education and the workforce.  The national CTE organization has outlined a shared vision of what CTE can do for students and how all stakeholders must unite to make this vison a reality. While many students wait until high school to start thinking about a career, SUSD CTE encourages engagement with these questions of interest and future ventures of college and career possibilities in the middle school years. A class called Design My Future is tailored to help middle school students do just that.  High school students in SUSD have the opportunity to participate in 15+ pathways, some of which allow students to earn industry recognized certifications and dual enrollment credits through our local CTE pathways. All programs have a Technical Skills Assessment which provides a point of recognition as a distinguished student via a Certificate of Completion for the CTE pathway.

Why should students take a CTE pathway in high school? Pairing robust academics with technical skills is what gives students a competitive advantage in post-secondary and industry environments.  This infographic explains "Why CTE works".  What do successful CTE students offer Arizona? A lot!  The national association for CTE has the stats to prove how valuable CTE is to all of our students in Scottsdale, greater Arizona, and the entire U.S.

Understanding what is CTE really about helps SUSD give students technical skills to find their place in the world of work.  Whether students become self-employed, are employing others, or working for an employer, skills will be needed to earn a living and be a contributor to society. Students can take advantage of CTE programs in high school to learn a skill that could mean job placement tomorrow. Having a job while in college or any program after high school will mean less debt - maybe zero debt! CTE helps students move forward in finding valuable apprenticeships, internships and admission to industry-sponsored training programs. Large employers such as Boeing and Intel are willing to train young individuals to start earning a livable wage right now. CTE can make those connections for students in SUSD. 

Checkout the always up-to-date Arizona Bureau of Labor stats on the number and types of jobs available in our great state.

Additional CTE pathways are available through our partners at EVIT.com.

Read more at The SUSD Source

Career and Technical Education (CTE) is an essential career preparation program made to benefit all secondary students. Some parents may not realize that there is no longer a “vocational ed” track in high school. Schools now focus on College and Career Readiness pathways instead, commonly known as CTE Programs of Study.  For many students, some level of post-secondary learning will be desired and necessary for a successful career. To better help students know what careers might best suit their aptitudes, interests, and personality, they need to experience the world of work via the CTE classroom and with CTE work-based learning.

CTE is the U.S.’s federally and state funded program to accomplish the task of better preparing students for a career. Once students know what jobs match their needs, they can leverage the collective knowledge and course offerings at their local Scottsdale Unified secondary schools. In grades 6-12, resources are provided to investigate the best way to get a job in industry, in a cost-efficient and time-saving manner. With the cost of college rising to all-time highs, it is crucial for students to approach their post-secondary options with an open mind and be armed with information concerning local employers, in-demand jobs, industry wages and educational requirements.  Not all career fields require a four-year degree.  Some fields only require industry certification and limited community college or technical certificate program completion. Some local employers are willing to train CTE-enrolled students and might even offer on-the-job learning experiences.

SUSD partners with the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) to offer 16 different programs across our five high schools. Please read our story below from an interview with Nickie Edwards, SUSD’s Lead Athletic Trainer and CTE Sports Medicine faculty at Saguaro High School:

Sports Medicine at Saguaro High School 

This month, CTE is spotlighting a program that is offered at all five, in-person SUSD high schools: Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. This CTE high school program of study currently ranks 4 out of 5 points for “high demand and high-paying jobs” in the state of Arizona.  Why?  It often leads to many other healthcare jobs.  It is a great place for all pre-med students to begin their medical careers and helps other students see ways that they can participate in the health sciences.

In the first year of the sports medicine program, students cover first aid, CPR, taping, wound care, the body's response to injury, tissue healing, anatomy, and sports nutrition.  In the second year, students cover legal concerns, ethics, pharmacology, psychology, rehabilitation, return to play, healthcare administration, and injury evaluations.   The first year is offered with an option to dual-enroll for college credit at Scottsdale Community College. The second year, CTE provides students access to the OSHA-10 Healthcare certification exam, plus students take the Arizona Technical Skills Assessment (TSA) for their pathway.

Saguaro also partners with EVIT, which means if a student has completed the two years of our local program, they can transfer to EVIT for year three and gain their EMT certification, with no other prerequisites needed! This is a huge savings for students looking to go into the medical field.

SUSD’s Athletic Training Aide (ATA) Program is an extracurricular program that is independent of the CTE Sports Medicine program; however, most ATAs take the sports med courses.  Nickie’s current 10 ATAs are her eyes and ears.  When Saguaro has sports going on all over campus, the students spread out to help Nickie be everywhere at once. All of them are CPR- and first aid-certified, and they can do simple wound care, help with hydration, pass out ice bags, and take care of practice and game set-up/clean-up.  Students are all trained on the SUSD emergency action plan and know where all of the emergency equipment is located. ATAs are instructed to call Nickie to the location where needed, which is critical to the level of care provided to the athletes. The ATA program allows Nickie to spend more time with athletes, doing in-house treatment and rehab, communicating with parents and coaches, and coordinating care, which in turn saves thousands of dollars in healthcare costs for our families and community. 

SUSD’s Sports Med students, in return, get to feel like they are a part of EVERY team on campus, earn a Varsity letter, and gain more work-based-learning experience than most students their age.  They are better prepared for college, due to their excellent time-management skills and meeting high academic standards, which requires maintaining a C or better in every class. Best of all, Nickie and SUSD’s other athletic trainers get to empower these young people to challenge themselves in a safe place!

Read more at The SUSD Source     

The Arcadia High School Engineering and Business Fundamentals classroom has a new, innovative look. Students now learn at brand-new, moveable workspace tables, new computer desks, high-top workstations and new adjustable stools, elevating the space to new standards. With two 3D-modeling and printing rooms already set up, the CTE Engineering class will next welcome eight more MakerBot 3D printers aligned with Computer Aided Design programs, like Blender, Fusion 360 and Autodesk.

If you have an Engineering background and would like to know more about working with SUSD’s Career and Technical Education programs and instruction, click here!  

Last month, Arcadia High School students enrolled in Luis Peralta’s Film & TV II - Live News course had the opportunity to tour Arizona’s Public Broadcasting Service television station, Channel 8, located at Arizona State University’s downtown Phoenix campus. Students saw the PBS studios and control rooms, and visited with Indian Country Today host Aliyah Chavez.

SUSD’s CTE Film and TV Production program prepares students to produce digital films and videos, including news broadcasts, commercials and public service announcements, feature films and documentaries, music videos and more, and to work in a variety of on- and off-camera positions commonly found in video production industries.

The Live News course is currently offered at Arcadia, Desert Mountain and Saguaro High schools.

Read more at The SUSD Source