January, 2013 - Career

TIMES
TIMES
Volume XXXIV No 2
Where
can CTC
graduates go?
Anywhere
in the
CTC
... providing
a 21st
century
world!
education & a future not to be
outsourced!
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January, 2013
Serving Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, and Leelanau Counties
“The Man Who Planted Trees” Comes to CTC
CTC Students Spread Christmas Cheer to the Community
A resident of Copemish, Milarch is on a quest to find the oldest living trees on earth,
propagate and preserve the genetic heritage of the world’s old growth trees, archive the
data, reforest the globe, and, as a result, impact climate change. His current collection
includes over 100 species of trees which he has cloned from the largest, oldest, and
strongest living species on earth. After Milarch’s visit to the AGNR program, the students
traveled to an area near the Energy Park on CTC grounds to plant ten poplars, planting
some of them in a low-lying area that will, as a result, help prevent water erosion and
ground pollution. Even more exciting than this was the fact that several AGNR students
planted more of Milarch’s trees at their home high schools or at their own homes! Hats off
to AGNR students for being good stewards of the environment!
Skilled Trades Students “Clean Up” Downtown Buildings’ Walls
In late October, Agriscience/Natural Resources (AGNR)
students welcomed local environmentalist David Milarch
to speak to them about a reforestation project and the
global work of Archangel Ancient Tree Archive (AATA).
Prior to this visit, students learned how trees affect lakes,
oceans, air, weather, soil, animals, and human survival in
lessons that culminated in the planting and safeguarding
of trees cloned by Milarch’s AATA. Students also read
about his life’s work in Jim Robbin’s book, The Man Who
Planted Trees, as part of their English instruction in the
program. This book detailed the vision and mission of this
third generation tree farmer who worked to preserve the
David Milarch
genetics of the strongest, heartiest trees in the California
Redwood region and across the globe in an effort to invest in a healthy ecosystem that
would provide benefits for generations to come.
Great Lakes Bioneers Micro Movie Fest Held at CTC
In late October, the Film and New Media (FNM) program hosted the Great Lakes
Bioneers Micro Movie Fest at CTC. Over 400 Bioneers from the Great Lakes region had
gathered at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City to listen to international
speakers, view films, listen to music, and attend workshops. Bioneers are social and
scientific innovators who focus on breakthrough solutions inspired by nature and human
ingenuity. These visionaries are engaged in creating a healthy, diverse, and equitable
world as a legacy for future generations.
As part of this conference, a micro movie fest competition was held at CTC, and three
students from FNM garnered the top prizes in the high school division, which included 32
entries. Cody Stowe, TC Central earned first place honors with his animation; Cameron
Webb, Elk Rapids, was awarded second place with his tale of Joe Kwondo, and Arianna
Wasserman, TC Central, collected
third place honors with her stop
motion piece. Prizes were awarded
in both the high school and adult
divisions, with prizes donated
by Brilliant Books, The Camera
Shop, and ABC Warehouse, all
of Traverse City. FNM students,
Charles Brookfield and Charlotte
Morgan, served as announcers and
prize distribution staff members for
this annual event.
(L-R: Arianna Wasserman, Cody Stowe, Cameron Webb
Nondiscrimination Policy: It is the policy of the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District that no person shall, on
the basis of race, color, national origin, creed or ancestry, political belief, sex, disability, handicap, religion, age, height, weight,
or marital status be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program
or activity or employment.
Printed on recycled paper
As a second-year activity, Early Childhood Education (ECE) students collaborated and
created an early childhood-themed Christmas tree for the Zonta Club’s Festival of Trees
(FOT) that took place in November. The Zonta Club gave the students a specific amount
of money that could be used to decorate the tree with which they had been provided.
With that money and some “points” the ECE students had earned through Scholastic,
Inc., they were able to purchase 40 books (all snow and Christmas-themed) for the tree.
The theme of the tree was “It’s Snowing Books,” and the ECE students also worked
with Construction Trades, Auto Body, and Welding students to create the sleigh that was
placed next to the tree. Several ECE students
volunteered at the FOT’s Special Needs Day and
helped at different craft stations that were part
of the event. After the FOT was over, the sleigh
was auctioned off for the Zonta Club, and the
students donated the tree with the children’s books
to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Traverse
City. During the same time these students were
working on the tree, other second-year ECE
students were creating literacy-themed activities,
packaged in plastic totes that involved Christmas
and winter topics. These totes were then given to
the Women’s Resource Center for use with the
children it serves. All those CTC students who were
involved knew that they had brought joy to many.
Students from the Skilled Trades
program partnered with the Traverse
City Downtown Development
Authority, city of Traverse City, and a
variety of local businesses to clean-up
the unsightly graffiti that covered
walls, bridges, and signs in the
downtown area. Every year vandals
deface both private and public
property – primarily with spray paints.
Assistance from the Biederman
Foundation and Sherwin Williams
(L-R: Matt Larkin, Traverse City West;
Paint helped cover the material cost.
Robert McClure, Suttons Bay
The students enjoyed not only the
opportunity to work outdoors and function as a team, but also to improve the appearance
of the city in the process. The staff members and students of the Skilled Trades program
hope to make this graffiti clean-up project an annual event!
CTC On-Line Book Fair Provides Gifts of Books
Coordinated by Sarah Bernstein, one of the CTC
English teachers, an on-line book fair, featuring Usborne
books, was held “virtually” and at CTC to help provide
gifts of books to the families of the children who attend
the Head Start program at CTC. The book fair ran
throughout the month of November and, when it ended,
$925 worth of books were sold, which generated
enough proceeds to purchase books that could fill gift
bags for all 17 families of the children who attend Head Start. Tucked inside each gift
bag were two picture books, a dry erase book about the alphabet and numbers, and a
phonics reader. The Early Childhood Education students packaged and wrapped the gifts,
and these were delivered to the families mid-December. Thanks to the efforts of Sarah
and the purchases of books by CTC staff members, the Head Start families received gifts
to promote literacy in their homes.
TRAVERSE BAY AREA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Non-Profit
U.S. Postage
PAID
Traverse City, MI
Permit No. 115
880 Parsons Road
Traverse City, MI 49686
Our mission is to prepare students with skills
and learning experiences for employment
and life-long learning.
CURRENT RESIDENT OR
TBA Early College Hosts Parent Information Nights for Sophomores
Attention, sophomores! Are you focused, motivated, and ready
for a challenge? If so, the TBA Early College may be the perfect
opportunity for you!
The TBA Early College is a program designed for students
entering 11th grade. The program, which lasts three years (11th
and 12th grades plus an additional 13th year), creates a unique
high school experience, allowing you to begin college while still in
high school. By enrolling in one of the participating Career-Tech Center programs (Allied
Health, Business Careers, Drafting and Design Online, or Manufacturing Technology
Academy) and applying to be an early college student, you can start taking college
classes your junior year. As a member of the early college, you will take classes at the
Career-Tech Center, your home high school, Northwestern Michigan College, and/or
Ferris State University. By accelerating your education and personalizing your high school
career, you could finish with not only a high school diploma, but also an associate’s
degree or 32 (or more!) transferrable college credits.
If you are interested in learning more about the TBA Early College, please attend one of
our Parent Information meetings. Meetings will take place at the Oleson Center on the
campus of Northwestern Michigan College and begin at 6:30pm. Please join us on one of
the following dates: Monday, January 14; Thursday, January 17, Wednesday, February 6.
For more information, please contact Meredith Schmidt, Early College Specialist, at
mschmidt@tbaisd.org or 922.6425.
CTC “Pilots” ALEKS in Several Programs
In an effort to help increase students’ math skills, CTC is currently “piloting” an on-line,
artificially-intelligent assessment and learning system – ALEKS. Used in the Allied Health
II, Precision Machining Technology, Culinary Arts, and Power Equipment Technology
programs and with several students in other programs whose math skills are beyond
Algebra II levels, it uses “adaptive questioning” to quickly and accurately determine
exactly what math concepts a student knows and doesn’t know. It then instructs the
student on those topics he/she is most ready to learn. As a student works through a
particular course of study, ALEKS periodically re-tests the student to ensure that the
topics learned are completely understood and retained. The math topics in ALEKS are
very comprehensive in nature, and ALEKS avoids multiple-choice questions. Research
with this system has proven that a student who shows a high level of mastery on an
ALEKS course will be successful in the traditional course of the same content. Because
the assessment and learning is individualized, ALEKS delivers a personalized learning
plan on the exact topics that each student is most ready to learn. CTC math teachers,
who are using ALEKS in the technical programs, hope that this will help strengthen the
students’ math skills that are needed in their chosen
career fields. Furthermore, the math teachers
are planning to collect data to determine if this
learning system helps students perform well on the
COMPASS test when taken in the spring, showing
evidence of college readiness math skills.
NEWS AND NOTES
TBAISD Career-Tech Center, “A Great Place to Learn”
As the New Year begins and the holiday season has passed, we at
the Career-Tech Center find ourselves gearing up for the second
half of our school year. In February many of our instructors will
be attending the 2013 Annual Career Education Conference in
Detroit. The conference theme this year is “Learning that Works
for Michigan.” I am proud to say that three teams of instructors
Patrick Lamb,
from the Career-Tech Center have been chosen to present their
Principal, TBAISD CTC
outstanding lessons at this conference. The fact that these teams
have been chosen to present their best practices to other CTE
instructors around the state is an achievement in itself. The names of their presentations
are, “Design by Numbers: Making Math Fun with Integrated Projects,” “You want
me to think? Why Can’t I just Google It,”’ and “For the Love of Reading.” All of these
presentations integrate academics into the technical aspect of our career and technical
education (CTE) programs, which makes learning fun and relevant. I am excited to see
these presentations first-hand.
February is also when our students start regional competition in their student clubs and
organizations. Our students will be competing in many technical areas reflecting what
they have mastered within their CTE programs. The number of students participating
in clubs this year has grown. Students will be competing in HOSA, SkillsUSA, MITES,
FCCLA, FFA, NRC and First Robotics. We look forward to promoting the successes of
our students over the next several months. Please check out your local papers to track
our students’ achievements! As always, you are welcome to visit the CTC and see the
great opportunities our instructors are providing to your students on a daily basis!
iPads Become Regular Fixtures in the Electrical Occupations Program
in late November, visitors to the Electrical Occupations
(EO) classroom would have been surprised to see a
classroom full of students, sitting in their desks, iPads “in
hand,” toggeling between the National Electric Code and
a calculator, stored as Apps on the tablet, to determine the
proper sizing of conduits. As indicated in an article in the
October issue of CTC Times, the Electrical Occupations
program received a grant that provided funds for purchasing
a classroom set of iPads as well as some Apps. As Tim VanderMeulen, the instructor,
began to explore and research the iPad Apps that could be used with his students, he
learned about this application for the electrical code, purchased and downloaded it on
the class set, and then incorporated its features into his lesson on sizing conduits. The
students had a work sheet they needed to complete and used the electrical code and the
calculator Apps on the iPad to complete the assignment. In addition, he has downloaded
a free App, called Zite, on the classroom iPads. Zite is a free personalized magazine for
the iPad that automatically learns what the user likes and gets smarter every time it is
used. In the case of the EO students, it is used by them to read articles and news stories
on energy and technology issues. At this point in the integration of the iPads in the EO
classroom, it appears that the students are enjoying this new technology and putting it to
good use.