The CTAE Connector
From the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education

November 2020 • Preparing Today for Tomorrow's Workforce

Sliding into Second (Quarter, that is!)
The championship continues! Just as we were excited to see our Tampa Bay Rays play in the World Series, we're also excited to see how our educators and students are excelling as our school year continues. #TeamCTE/AEProud
Please feel free to contact us at 813-524-2204, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @PascoCTE!
Stay safe, keep it simple and be well,
Lori Romano, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education

Did You Know? Fast Facts about Pasco's CTE Programs:

District-Wide CTE Career Advisory Council Launches!
During a two-hour Zoom session, the team and partners had the opportunity to delve deep into our "WHY" and discuss how the council could positively impact our students' achievements. Topics ranged from roles that members could play, to areas for growth and improvement, to how to measure success in our programs and academies. In January, we'll build upon that foundation as the executive board is elected, bylaws and charter are reviewed, and strategic planning is implemented.
Our vision is to have the CAC serve as the overarching organization supporting CTE programming, with specific advisory boards lending their expertise to these career clusters:
• Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources
• Architecture & Construction
• Arts, A/V Technology & Communication
• Business Management & Administration
• Education & Training
• Energy
• Engineering & Technology Education
• Finance
• Government & Public Administration
• Health Science
• Hospitality & Tourism
• Human Services
• Information Technology
• Law, Public Safety & Security
• Manufacturing
• Marketing, Sales & Service
• Transportation, Distribution & Logistics
We invite all interested industry and business partners to join us in this initiative that will serve the entire district's CTE programming. Please contact Pam Willoughby at pwilloug@pasco.k12.fl.us or Jen Batchelor at jbatchel@pasco.k12.fl.us and visit our Career Advisory Council webpage for more information.
Top Ten Facts About Brandon Castillo, our district office BCE Student!
2. He attended Pine View Middle School.
3. He attended Sanders, Connerton and Pine View Elementary Schools.
4. He runs cross country and plays soccer (striker).
5. He plans to join the Navy after graduation and would like to be an officer.
6. He has an older brother and a younger sister.
7. Favorite sweet: chocolate.
8. Favorite movie: "The Hunger Games" (actually - the whole series)
9. Loved reading "The Magic Treehouse" books as a kid.
10. Dream car: custom 2-door Jeep Wrangler
The CTAE team is very blessed to have Brandon working with us this year! Be sure to say "Hi!" to him when you call or stop by our district office.
P-Dub's myLearning Canvas Tech Tip of the Month!
HOW TO USE BITMOJIS TO INCREASE ENGAGEMENT
Hi, amazing CTAE educators!
In our last newsletter, I shared a document I created about how to use filters in myLearning. You may have noticed I used a cartoon avatar of my alter-ego, "P-Dub", to inject a bit of personality to those directions. My avatars are courtesy of Bitmoji, the secondary social media app that lets you create your own expressive cartoon and share in numerous ways.
This article from digitaltrends.com provides the details about the history of Bitmoji, as well as directions on how to use the app: You may also want to add it as a Google Chrome extension, which streamlines your ability to add various Bitmojis to any communication. Feel free to share your favorite as a comment on our CTAE Facebook page post about Bitmojis.
Once you have played with Bitmojis a bit, feel free to take them to the next level by building a Bitmoji virtual classroom in Google Slides and embedding it in your myLearning (Canvas) Home page. They're a lot of fun, and help increase engagement and community among classes. Edutopia has an excellent article with several AMAZING examples of interactive Bitmoji classrooms that teachers of all subjects and all grade levels have shared in their online courses. The Facebook group Bitmoji Craze for Educators will also inspire you to set up your own virtual classroom. Fair warning: you may fall down a rabbit hole once you get started!
Be inspiring!
Pam Willoughby 🙂

CTAE Facebook Page The Pasco County School's Career, Technical and Adult Education Facebook page allows us to highlight our students and programs, as well as connect relevant national and global news to the career clusters we teach. | CTAE Teachers LoungeThe CTE Teachers Lounge is a closed group for Pasco County CTE educators. Think of us having a virtual teachers lounge where we can share ideas, thoughts, and even a little humor in our days. Please join and become part of our online community! | @PascoCTE Twitter Help us reach 1000 Followers before the end of November! Please encourage your colleagues and students to follow us. |
CTAE Facebook Page
CTAE Teachers Lounge
The CTE Teachers Lounge is a closed group for Pasco County CTE educators. Think of us having a virtual teachers lounge where we can share ideas, thoughts, and even a little humor in our days. Please join and become part of our online community!


PHS' Horticulture class keeps on growing!
Taking stock at Pasco High
- submitted by Stephanie Parry



PHS Pirates keep their school safe.
Electricity classes 4-6 get hands on experience checking for fire hazards on the Pasco High School campus.

MTC Commercial Art students bring infographics to life!
Although this form of communication has been around since the days of cave paintings, it have seen a resurgence in the past decades. To locate one, look around your school building and I bet you will see one explaining how to wash your hands or wear a mask properly.
These visual communications are often difficult to design effectively. Michelle Keyser, former marketing manager (now working at the testing center at Marchman), critiqued students designs. She took time to explain how their designs worked, how they didn't and how they could be improved. Students took her feedback and made changes to improve their overall design.
Thank you, Michelle, and students who put forth much time and effort into this project. Check out a few and see if you learn something about a topic or two.
- submitted by Linda Bourne
"What is ADHD?" Infographic by adult student Victoria Fiest | "LGBT 101" Inforgraphic by adult student Harvey Coolidge | "Fat/Skinny" Infographic by Junior Maggie Martin |

Mr. Mallo’s River Ridge High School Business Academy class and FBLA visit BK Plastics Industry Inc. to celebrate Manufacturing Month!
Mr. Chad Mallo teaches Business Entrepreneurship and the first few textbook pages talk about Entrepreneurs taking risks and never giving up. He contacted 15 businesses requesting tours of their facilities, and all 15 said "no". He and his students didn't give up, though, and were able to turn a "no" into a "yes" when we explained the importance of recognizing Manufacturing Month by visiting BK Plastics Industry and touring their facility.
This was an amazing opportunity for the students. The first few chapters in Business Entrepreneurship addresses Manufacturing. They brought 24 students to this facility and the owner took them on a tour we will never forget. Thanks, BK Plastics Industry!
- submitted by Chad Mallo | photos by Teresa Hartigan

TEWMS Wildcats lead by example
- submitted by Jenna Eyers


Celebrating #scrublife at Hudson High!
- submitted by Rosemarie Martin

PHSC Equipment Donation
Pasco-Hernando State College's Pharmacy Tech program has generously donated scales and numerous other essential supplies to Hudson High School's new Pharmacy Technician program.
Special thanks to Dean Gabbard for helping these grateful students as they launch not only a new program, but also their careers!
Thank you, PHSC! Dean Gabbard and her assistant pose with one of the scales that HHS students received. | Organization is key. The PHSC Pharmacy Tech lab set up serves as a model for HHS' program. | So many supplies... These supplies and more are essential for students learning how to become pharmacy techs. |
Thank you, PHSC!

WRHS Bulls' Comp Sci on a Mission!
Wiregrass Ranch High School AP Computer Science Principles students have recently participated in the CoderZ Cyber Robotics Challenge and learned how to program Amazon warehouse robots via challenging missions, using Scratch visual programming language.
Pictured, L to R, Samuel Krall and Gehrig Grzanka, learning Scratch using pair programming approach.
We also had an amazing virtual guest speaker, Dan Hickey, a recipient of very prestigious Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship. Winners of the award receive $10,000 per year at an accredited four-year college or university as well as a paid summer internship at Amazon after their freshman year of college. Dan, a computer science major student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Founder and CEO of Discover Technology NFP, shared his experience with programming Alexa as part of his internship experience and answered various questions from WRHS students.
- submitted by Tatyana Pashnyak, Business and AP Computer Science Principles Teacher
Dan Hickey Info: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-hickey-431772178/

JIEC Adult ESOL learners explore dream jobs.
During week 7, we celebrated the birthday of a young lady from Dominican Republic as one student made a chocolate flan and the others brought fresh fruit and delicious dishes. Other accolades: Maria Restrepo has 100% attendance. Alondra Andrade, Marialina Hernandez, Yadamacer Ramirez, and Sandra Madrid all scored 100% on their first test. Congratulations!
-submitted by Rebecca Sandy

We want to hear from you!
• What ideas have you come up with to adapt your CTE courses to an online format?
• What's been your favorite new tool, app or resource this school year?
• Please share information about your program that you would like considered for the CTE monthly newsletter (photos, awards, events, certifications, etc.).
• Don't forget that you can email Pam Willoughby (pwilloug@pasco.k12.fl.us) with news and photos you want posted on our social media platforms at any time throughout the month.


Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education
