Career Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) prepares Georgia students for their next steps after high school, whether that be college, a career, a registered apprenticeship, the military or a blended journey of these options. Georgia's CTAE career clusters and career pathways use course instruction and student technical organizations along with leveraged partnerships with local businesses, industries, and institutes of higher learning to ensure high school students have the ability to explore their options, while learning and applying skills they will need to thrive in the workforce.

Tazmeria Wilson (Taz), a rising senior at Statesboro High School and her mentor, teacher, and coach, Chad Farrell, partnered to enter the 2021 Hope Givers Film Challenge. Their venture was successful. In June, Hope Givers announced that Taz was first runner-up in the overall contest, and she won the Hope Givers Storytelling Award as part of the competition!

Tamlin Hall, founder and executive producer of the new uplifting documentary series, Hope Givers, that will launch on Georgia Public Broadcasting and National PBS Learning Media in September, visited Statesboro High School on June 28, to meet Taz and Ferrell and to present Taz with a grant for $600. Hall is also a part-time screenwriting faculty member at the University of Georgia and writing instructor at Emory Continuing Education. Taz's film will premiere on September 1.

In her award-winning short film, Taz shares her story of hope. She was born with bilateral tibial hemimelia, a rare bone deficiency, that led to her legs being amputated, just above the knee, before her third birthday. Taz is a member of the Statesboro High Girls Golf Team.

She credits Don Garrick, her former teacher of students with orthopedic impairments, who began working with her in Pre-K, with recommending golf as a sport to her when she was in eighth grade. Garrick and Tina Rigdon, her current school physical therapist, both attendend the presentation.

Ferrell is her varsity golf coach and Statesboro High's Audio, Video, Technology & Film teacher.

Portal High School students received generous donations of FFA jackets from the National FFA Organizations' Gift of Blue program. The school nominated Portal FFA chapter members Jaycee Sanchez, Adrienne Lane, Jordan Kirkland, and Delaney Davis for the program and presented them their jackets at their January FFA Meeting.

In January 2021, Portal High School participated in three agricultural-related competitions. Land Evaluation was the first event. Students were challenged with determining the slope and topsoil characteristics to classify the land and recommend treatment practices. The PMHS junior team, composed of Hunter Stewart, Liam Fordham, Taylor Burns and Kasen Evans, placed third with Stewart placing fourth individually. The senior team composed of Charles Haynes, James Saunders, Daniela Hernandez, and Alfonso Gonzalez, placed fourth overall.

The second competition was Lawn Mower Driving, where Walker Bowen demonstrated his skills on a course, took an exam and completed problem-solving situations.

The final January competition was Meats Evaluation where students identified retail cuts of meat and placed classes. The PHS senior team was made up of Katie Fondren, Elaina Parker, Maggie NeSmith, and Lainey Hendrix. They placed second and moved on to the state competition in March.

As part of National FFA Week, the Portal chapter provided a chili lunch to all of the school's faculty and staff as a thank you for all they do for students. The week also included dress-up days like Tropical Tuesday and Western Wednesday and a Cornhole Tournament fundraiser. Congratulations to this year's champions Reid Thompson and Chandler Sheffield.

Katielyn Yates, representing Portal FFA, exhibited her show pig, Dolly, at the State Livestock Show in Perry, Feb. 17 - 20.

Southeast Bulloch Middle School has a National FFA Organization chapter. Its members are learning leadership skills that will help them as they advance to the high school chapter. They've learned how to properly conduct and lead opening and closing ceremonies, the roles and responsibilities of chapter officers, and they chose Supervised Agricultural Experience projects.

In addition to evaluating cattle, Lexi Morton exhibited her show cow, Belle, during the Cattle show. Congratulations to Lexi! She won Reserve Grand Champion Commercial Heifer.

Kate Anna Newman, also a member of the livestock judging team, spent the weekend in Perry, Georgia, where she exhibited her swine projects in the Winter Pig Classic. Her barrow, Tank, won Progress Reserve Champion.

During its Feb. 11, meeting, members of the Southeast Bulloch Middle School FFA Chapter expressed their collective creativity and designed Valentine's Day cards. Afterwards the cards were delivered to residents of the community's local nursing homes.

Whitley Gatch, a member of the Southeast Bulloch High School FFA Chapter, competed in the Area Discussion Meet on March 30, and secured her spot in the state contest by placing first at the Area competition. Whitley will advance to compete against other FFA members at the state FFA convention.

Statesboro High School's JROTC Blue Devil Battalion hosted its Military Ball on April 3, 2021. The Cadet leadership, Cadet LTC Drew Huthsteiner, Cadet CPT Josh Boyd and many others organized a fantastic evening to celebrate the school's seniors.

On April 29, Statesboro High School celebrated the accomplishments of its cadets for the 2020-2021 school year. Although the school year was anything but normal due to the pandemic, SHS Cadets showed resilience, courage, and selfless service to their program, school, and community. Awards were presented by national organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Georgia National Guard, the Daughters of the American Revolution and many others.

HOSA provides students opportunities to develop as a leader and future employee in a health sciences career. Through the HOSA Competitive Events Program, members compete in teams or as individuals in over 55 different events related to all aspects of the healthcare industry. HOSA integrates into the Health Science Technology Education curriculum to develop and recognize smart, dedicated, and passionate future health professionals.

Congratulations to the following Bulloch County students who were HOSA (virtual) Region Competition winners:

• 3rd place CPR & First Aid - Peyton Coulter & Anna Wellman
• 1st place Dental Terminology - Rebecca Dilas
• 1st place Forensic Science - Hannah Kimball & Valerie Perkins
• 1st place Medical Math - Katie Brantley
• 2nd place Medical Reading - Dylan Smith
• 4th place Physical Therapy - Abbee Aviles

These students will advance to the virtual state competitive events.

The Early Childhood Education pathway at Statesboro High School is taught by Kristen Rogers. These are students practicing writing lesson plans and teaching lessons to prekindergarten students who attend the school's pre-kindergarten site. Since pre-K students learn by doing, the lesson plans were centered around an appetizing activity that the pre-K students thoroughly enjoyed: "How to Make Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches."

Statesboro High students appreciate that pre-K students have quite a lot of energy and enjoy moving about. In February, the Early Childhood Education students from SHS hosted a Valentines Day Dance party for the school's prekindergarten students. ECE students also coordinated a sing-along on the playground event.

In May, Early Childhood Education pathway students from SHS assisted prekindergarten students as they learned how to responsibly use computers and other technology in the SHS Media Center. The pre-K students were engaged, excited, and happy to be able to visit the Media Center like their high school counterparts.

In April, Portal Elementary School's STEM Lab teacher, Stephanie Hodges, and her second- and third-grade students celebrated their STEM work at the PES Playmakers Expo. Guests from Georgia Southern University came to observe the student projects, interview student teams about their projects and judge team entries. Students conceptualized, prototyped, and constructed components in STEM class using FIRST LEGO League Jr. Projects. The students' design challenge was to build an obstacle course with at least one motorized component using the LEGO WeDo 2.0 core set. LEGO WeDo 2.0 is a hands-on, elementary science and STEM tool kit that develops science practices in the classroom through a robot-based learning system.

YouScience is an online resource that helps students answer some of life’s biggest questions: “Why am I learning this?” and “What do I want to be when I grow up?” In February, Langston Chapel Middle School's eighth-grade students used this powerful online career and personal planning assessment system to help them identify their own potential aptitudes and careers.

Students completed their YouScience assessment and received a list of possible career opportunities. In addition to careers that align with their interests, students also explored the income range and educational preparation needed for each potential career. Afterwards, LCMS Counselor, Ms. Natson and eighth-grade teachers showed students videos about the Career Technical & Agricultural Education and Fine Arts programs at their feeder high school, Statesboro High. The videos were produced by Statesboro High's Audio Visual & Film Career Pathway students. The videos showcased an assortment of CTAE courses that students may take in high school to better prepare them to become enrolled, employed or enlisted.

Career Connection, Spring/Summer 2020