Six Ways to Celebrate #CTEMonth in February

Each February, students, educators and administrators raise awareness of career and technical education (CTE) by celebrating Career and Technical Education Month®.

So how can you celebrate CTE Month and show support for DECA and your school’s program? These are the six best ways you can help celebrate and advocate for support of CTE:

SHARE THE FACTS ABOUT DECA AND CTE

Knowing the facts about DECA and CTE — and sharing those facts — is a key part of celebrating CTE Month. Sharing relevant information, along with your personal connection to CTE, will help you communicate the impact of organizations like DECA. Use the following pages to brush up on your DECA facts and look for more CTE facts online.

SPREAD THE WORD ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Spreading the word about CTE Month on social media is one of the easiest ways to raise awareness. You can celebrate #CTEMonth by sharing DECA facts, benefits of your school’s CTE programs, success stories from your chapter and even your personal DECA story.

INCREASE STUDENT INVOLVEMENT AND INTEREST IN DECA

It’s never too late to grow your chapter or too early to generate interest for next year. Encourage potential members to join by sharing the benefits of DECA with them. Don’t forget about middle school students who will soon be thinking about which CTE-related classes to sign up for next fall. The more your fellow students are invested, the more of a positive impact you can have on your community!

INVITE OTHERS TO SEE YOUR DECA CHAPTER IN ACTION

A great way to showcase your school’s CTE program is to partner with other CTSOs to host a school visit. Visits can increase awareness of the importance of DECA and help others understand the opportunities that CTSOs provide for your school and community. While you can invite just about anyone, it’s most important to invite your school’s superintendent, school board members, members of your local business community and local and state elected officials.

CONNECT WITH YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

Communicate with your city officials, mayor, members of Congress at the state and federal level and governor to inform them about the importance of CTE. Building strong relationships with elected officials and policymakers is important to ensure continued support for DECA and CTE. You can ask them to attend an event, invite them to join DECA’s Congressional Advisory Board (CAB) or express the importance of supporting CTE and Perkins legislation.

MAKE CTE MONTH OFFICIAL IN YOUR CITY

If you want to maximize support of CTE in your community, encourage your policymakers to proclaim February as CTE Month. Pushing for recognition of CTE Month shows your community that you and your local government have an interest in education. By getting CTE Month officially proclaimed in your city, you can introduce your entire community to the benefits and importance of DECA and CTE.

Start celebrating CTE Month by choosing one or more items on this list to start making a difference for CTE in your community.

Want to know the best part? You can get recognized by DECA Inc. through the Advocacy Campaign.

Completing three school outreach activities, three public policymaker outreach activities and three community outreach activities during the month of February will get your chapter recognized. And your community will definitely know you are advocates of DECA and Career and Technical Education!

Visit decadirect.org/advocacy for fact sheets, sample proclamations, toolkits, ideas and other helpful resources.

CTE LINGO KEY TERMS TO KNOW

ADVANCE CTE

The longest-standing national non-profit that represents State CTE Directors and state leaders of career and technical education.

ASSOCIATION FOR CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (ACTE)

The largest national education association dedicated to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for careers.

CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (CTE)

An instructional program that is delivered through comprehensive programs of study to help students succeed in education and careers.

CAREER AND TECHNICAL STUDENT ORGANIZATION (CTSO)

DECA is one of eight CTSOs recognized by Congress and the United States Department of Education.

CAREER CLUSTERS

An initiative by Advance CTE: State Leaders Connecting Learning to Work, career clusters provide a way for schools to organize instruction and student experiences around 16 broad categories that encompass all occupations. The four career clusters relating to DECA are marketing, business management and administration, finance and hospitality and tourism.

CAREER PATHWAY

Occupations within a career cluster are grouped according to shared commonalities such as knowledge and skill sets or common roles.

CARL D. PERKINS CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ACT

First authorized by the federal government in 1984, the act aims to increase the quality of technical education within the United States. The act is the main federal funding source for career and technical education programs.

CONGRESSIONAL ADVISORY BOARD (CAB)

Consists of members of Congress who are supportive of DECA.

PERKINS V

Officially titled “The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act”, Perkins V is federal legislation that presents a major increase to CTE funding.