Managing Editor ....... Brock Turnipseed
Associate Editor Jean Cook
Editor Heather Craig
Designer ...................... Chris McMillen
Writers Heather Craig
Will Graves
Brock Turnipseed
After more than two years of the pandemic’s changing and reshaping the educational landscape, 2022 answered many questions about how education would reemerge on the other side of the crisis.
If Mississippi CTE is a snapshot of the new normal so many anticipated, the world is headed toward greater positivity, generosity, connection and community.
I’m proud to say our programs hit the ground running in 2022 stronger and more influential than ever, finding fresh inspiration and reserves of adaptability that enabled educators and students to solve local problems and emerge more connected to and generous toward their neighbors than ever.
Vicksburg-Warren and Claiborne County School Districts (p. 12) partnered with energy industry leaders to demonstrate how — in response to 2019 energy legislation — redesigning their schools into an energy academy model helps students relate their career interests with academic and CTE interests.
Further south, Lamar County Career and Technical Center’s (CTC’s) Aimee Reams and Selena Parker were named Mississippi Association of Career Technical Education (MS ACTE) Teacher of the Year and New Teacher of the Year, respectively (p. 18), after showing themselves the models of adaptability during the pandemic.
At the same time, Starkville-Oktibbeha School District’s Lenora Hogan was honored as MS ACTE Administrator of the Year for her accountability, innovation and supportive approach to the programs she leads at Millsaps CTC (p. 24).
Speaking of generosity and connection, Leland CTC’s Agriculture program — led by Delta native Kevion Young — provided 5,000 pounds of fresh produce and started and maintained community gardens to provide locals access to healthy groceries during and after the pandemic’s disruption to the supply chain (p. 4)
As if those stories aren’t enough evidence of CTE’s incredible ability to create connection, you’ll see how a chance meeting at New Teacher Induction training led to love and marriage for two new educators (p. 8).
I hope you enjoy seeing the new face our state’s CTE programs greeted the new normal with as much as I have — as no stranger to unforeseeable obstacles and natural disasters, our programs have come back bigger and stronger than ever!
Wendy Clemons
Associate Superintendent of Secondary Education, Career and Technical Education and Professional DevelopmentWe want to hear about your success stories, awards and program accomplishments!
Please submit your story ideas at wwwrcumsstateedu/connections/shareyourstoryideas
Kevion Young’s journey through Leland Career and Technical Center’s (LCTC’s) gardens and greenhouses is a soulful experience. He touches each plant as he explains what the students grow in the fall and winter months, and it’s clear both students and plants respond to his inspired approach to growth.
“Most of us take for granted how big of an influence ag is to culture,” Young says. “It’s what we see, breathe, hear, smell, eat and wear. It is at the core of
how we operate with tools of the world around us.”
Young, a Delta native, spent his early life around agriculture, beginning with the lessons he gleaned at home from his Grandma Lela and her stories about his great-grandmother MaKu (or Rosie).
In his childhood home, Young helped raise animals and plants and enjoyed animal companions. His fascination with nature and agriculture led him to formally study agriculture in college, abroad in Asia and continually in his daily life as a yogi and healer
with a global clientele.
Despite managing his own business and conducting international research, Young returned to his Delta roots as a way of rejoining the ecosystem that created him.
“My connection to my ancestors and my personal discoveries in biological sciences and health care ultimately influenced my decision to teach what I know and to continue learning more with my students,” Young said.
After deciding to teach, Young participated in New Teacher Induction, a program designed by the Mississippi
State University Research and Curriculum Unit and offered through the Mississippi Department of Education to transition professionals and field experts into hands-on teaching in career and technical education centers across the state.
At LCTC, Young now teaches Diversified Agriculture as a four-part course that includes Concepts of Agriscience, Plants, Environmental Science and Agricultural Mechanization. He also partnered with local organizations such as FoodCorps, Greenville Community Health — PIER, Delta Health Alliance and other employers for work-based learning opportunities. Young’s classroom activities range from creating popular agricultural products such as essential oils to working in greenhouses and gardening to welding.
Young described his hopes for the Delta in one word: cultivation. He explained how everything that happens in nature — preparing ground, seed germination, photosynthesis, growth and nourishment — is mirrored in our daily lives as people and a culture.
“It’s a humbling experience to witness so much of what’s unknown about the world around us, especially considering this area is known for its agricultural history; yet many of the people in these communities are mentally disconnected due to the inhumane treatment and racial traumas of their ancestors in this area,” Young said.
He hopes the natural products his students are coaxing from the fertile soil of the Leland area will reconnect the locals to the land that has sustained them.
He further explains his concept of cultivation in the lesson he hopes his students take away from his class: “It’s all about living in alignment with the environment — both internally and ex-
ternally — and knowing how to center ourselves in the balance of it to achieve a truly healthy, well-rounded version of success,” Young said.
The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for Young’s classes to experience their interconnectedness as members of the Leland community when the students began donating sweet potatoes, greens, peas, bok choy and other produce to individuals in the community.
What began as an outreach to those unable to access groceries during the pandemic grew into an ongoing service project that has provided 5,000 pounds of food to residents of Leland and the surrounding area. A partnership with FoodCorps and the Leland School District’s CTE agriculture feeder school program established community gardens in Leland, Hollandale and Washington County, enabling multiple communities to benefit from the gardens.
“[Young] has brought a new vision to the Diversified Agriculture program,” LCTC Director Kermit McAdory said. “[His industry partnerships] enhance
and promote students, parents and local businesses in the development of community gardens. These gardens will provide students training on how agriculture is vital in sustaining vegetables for the community as well as the job opportunities in this field,” he said.
Along with the new vision Young has brought to LCTC and the Leland area, he also serves as an agricultural mentor for his students.
Sophomore Lorenzo Hollins said, “Mr. Young is smart; he’s really smart about agriculture and life. He also really cares. He is a good mentor who cares not only about what we learn in Diversified Agriculture, but also about who we are as people. I would tell anyone to take his class.”
“I understand their experiences on a social-emotional level,” Young said. “We are all on the same team and the same side of living and learning together but with different steps to take.
“I respect their individuality as a piece of the whole person they are becoming, which gives me a personal understanding of each student,” he said.
Alexis Jefferies, a two-year welding student at the Vicksburg-Warren Career and Technical Center (VWCTC) was one of 28 students selected to attend the Texas State University (TSU) Women of Welding (WoW) Camp, sponsored by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, in San Marcos, Texas.
The camp, fully funded by the USDA Women and Minorities in STEM grant and led by female welding instructors, invites secondary women interested in welding-related careers to participate in the inten -
sive five-day welding camp. Jefferies learned from and worked with professional women in welding careers and received hands-on experience, industry insight, virtual reality psychomotor skill development and career exploration. The camp also allowed her to learn different welding processes and other emerging technologies used in the industry.
Jefferies has excelled in VWCTC’s welding program and planned to continue for a third year before going on to pursue a welding degree at the postsecondary level.
Pontotoc Ridge Career and Technology Center (PRCTC) launched a Gateway program to provide paid internships — made available through funding from the Three Rivers Planning and Development District — for eligible students in a career field of their choice.
Isabelle Southard has participated in the program working with PRCTC’s mobile makerspace, a grant the Pontotoc County School District received from the CREATE Foundation/Toyota Wellspring. The mobile makerspace helps increase student awareness in the fields of energy, engineering, information technology and health science.
Southard, who has interest in an engineering career, learned about invoices, purchase orders, inventory, paperwork, communication with vendors and other operational aspects of business.
She also worked on engineering cross-curricular lesson plans and proj-
ects for students in the district. PRCTC plans to use the mobile makerspace to provide freshmen at North and South
Pontotoc High Schools with access to 3D printers, a laser engraver, CNC routers, robots and other hands-on tools.
Health Care and Clinical Services (HCCS) II
East Central Community College (ECCC)Associate Degree
The Forest-Scott County Career and Technology Center’s Health Science Core (HSC) and Health Care and Clinical Services (HCCS) programs have partnered with the East Central Community College Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program for work-based learning (WBL) opportunities.
The programs require students to have 100 clinical hours combined for the two-year program. Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, HCCS II students are required to have 35 hours of WBL — seven separate field experiences or field-related experiences with a minimum of five hours in each experience.
ADN students’ clinical hours will include teaching and modeling skills to the HCCS II students and evaluating the students.
This collaboration teaches health care and communication skills and introduces HCCS II students to college health care curriculum.
HSC students will receive an early introduction to WBL and learn skills from the ADN students, preparing the first-year students for the clinical experiences required in the HCCS program.
Nursing (ADN) students Hunt (back row, l-r in black scrubs) pose with Forest-Scott County CTC HCCS II students after presenting to the students as part of a work-based learning collaboration between the schools. HCCS students II (blue scrubs) include: (front row, l-r) J’Ciana Lacey and Austin Gilmore; (middle row, l-r) Macy McMillian, Kaylee Barton and Chloe Shoemaker; and (back row, l-r) Kiara Parrott, Brooklyn Harris and Marcie McMillan.
Forest-Scott County CTC HCCS II students Martavious students
Martavious Reed (l-r in blue scrubs), Madison Trest, Jaterrah Nickson and Hannah Hillhouse pose with ECCC ADN students Cayley Cayley Hunt (l-r in black scrubs), Sjonea Hines, Shelby Sellers and Hunter Beason. The ADN students use clinical hours teaching and modeling skills to the HCCS II students.
Career and technical education (CTE) historically connects students to real-world skills, but for Anthony and Taborah Nash, it led them to fall in love and get married.
Anthony and Taborah met at New Teacher Induction (NTI) — a Mississippi Department of Education and Mississippi State University Research and Curriculum Unit professional development program that equips new CTE educators with the tools needed for the classroom
— during the 2017-18 cohort.
The couple never imagined a chance meeting at NTI would lead to them getting married since they lived 300 miles apart. Taborah, then Farmer, was a teacher’s assistant in the Moss Point School District in 2017 and went through NTI to teach information and communication technology. Nash lived in Greenville at the time, teaching automotive service technician after working at Firestone for 13 years.
The two began the NTI journey in two separate trainings during the summer of
2017, so they did not officially meet until the following summer when the cohort returned to the MSU campus for two weeks of sessions, teach-backs, industry visits and their graduation ceremony.
During that first week, the couple went to dinner with mutual friends. Taborah said it was a Monday night at Harveys, a longtime local restaurant, where the two ended up sitting beside each other.
According to Anthony, they had friendly conversation, getting to know each other and sharing their interests. Those conversations continued through
the week, and one of Anthony’s friends told Taborah that he had something to tell her.
Anthony was persistent that he did not have anything to tell her, but he eventually told her that he complimented her eyes to his friend.
That interaction led to them exchanging numbers, with Anthony calling her during her drive back to Moss Point. They continued their conversations the following week when they returned to MSU to culminate their NTI journeys.
Taborah said they continued talking on the phone for a month before finally reuniting in person. Those visits continued most weekends with trips to Greenville or Moss Point. Sometimes they would meet halfway or attend their children’s sporting events together.
The couple had discussed marriage,
and Taborah said it became apparent that is what both wanted when Anthony was ready to give up teaching and train to become a truck driver so they could be together as a family.
“When he was ready to do that is probably when we figured out that was the next step we wanted to take,” she said.
Although they had discussed it, Taborah had no idea a proposal would shortly follow.
“She had no clue what I was doing. I called her mom and asked for her permission, and she agreed,” Anthony said. “It was Christmas Day, and we were going to her mom’s house. Everyone knew what was going on except her. When I walked in, they got her to turn around, and I got down on one knee.”
On July 18, 2020, Anthony and Taborah’s love story came full circle as they
exchanged vows in front of immediate family and friends in Vancleave.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the move to virtual learning made the 300mile move easier for Anthony because he was already visiting Taborah for spring break and could stay with her while continuing to teach his students in Greenville.
Fortunately, Anthony did not have to pause his teaching career as the Hancock Career and Technical Center offered him an automotive service technician teaching position. Taborah taught cyber foundations in Hancock last year before moving to the Ocean Springs School District this year.
The couple enjoys reflecting on their days with each other, with Taborah saying they always find laughter in things their students say or do.
Having been through NTI together also helps them navigate the CTE classroom, especially for Anthony, who was teaching students for the first time.
“I stay on top of him,” Taborah said jokingly.
“She makes sure I get everything done,” Anthony said of his spouse. “I was
not technologically inclined like her, so she showed me how to do things on the computer.”
Although Taborah had spent time in a classroom, she said the NTI experience gave her the skills to grow her classroom management skills.
“It helped me stay organized. I still
use a lot of stuff (the NTI instructors) gave us. There were some long days during NTI, but I took away so much,” Taborah said.
For Anthony and Taborah, NTI brought them together and still provides guidance and resources as they instruct Mississippi’s future workforce.
Simpson County Technical Center senior Jody Stevens received recognition for successful scores in the sheet metal national championship held in Atlanta this summer as part of the 2022 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference.
Stevens, a student at Mendenhall High School and enrolled in Kirk Sullivan’s metal fabrication program at SCTC, advanced to the national event after receiving the gold medal in the state competition.
Stevens was one of more than 6,500 of the top students from schools in all
50 states to compete in one or more of 108 categories.
A first-year student in SCTC’s metal fabrication program, Stevens attributed his success to Sullivan, saying “he is aways readily available to assist me in any difficulties of learning I may be having.”
SkillsUSA prepares America’s high-performance workers in career and technical programs by providing quality educational experiences for its members in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development and building self-confidence, work attitudes and communication skills.
Mississippi is a powerhouse in energy production. From Entergy’s Grand Gulf Nuclear facility in Port Gibson to the Chevron refinery near Pascagoula — one of the nation’s largest natural gas processing plants — the opportunity to find a great career is abundant and expected to grow.
In anticipation of job growth, career and technical education (CTE), business and civic leaders joined forces to create a strong career pipeline of new workers to meet Mississippi’s energy workforce needs. Through this collaborative effort, the Energy Academy model was born.
During the 2019 legislative session — through Senate Bill 2928, the Energy Academy Act, which was signed into law by then-Governor Phil Bryant — the Claiborne County School District (CCSD) and Vicksburg-War-
ren School District (VWSD) received legislative approval to partner with the state’s energy industry to create a career academy geared toward completing the education-to-career pipeline in this sector.
This is great news for Mississippi residents who rely daily on every aspect of the energy industry for basic services and public utilities.
VWSD CTE Director Dr. Terence James (in a news column local to his district) said he began intensively transforming its high schools to fit into the career academy model around 2017 with a plan to align individual educational achievement with student career goals.
“Academies are designed to ignite students’ passion for lifelong learning and to provide interesting, relevant
and meaningful education,” James said. “Each student, in choosing an academy, begins aligning their learning with their vision for their career after graduation.”
For VWSD and CCSD, the Energy Academy has become crucial in helping students relate career interests with their academic and CTE courses. Beyond classroom learning, students can develop professional relationships with mentors, industry leaders and employers and secure a career in a growing field ripe with opportunities in the students’ backyard.
“Anyone who has flipped on a light in the middle of the night or walked into the coolness of an air-conditioned space on a hot Mississippi summer afternoon understands the importance of energy,” James said. “The ongoing need for more energy has created a powerful demand for trained professionals in the ever-growing field of
energy. Better yet, energy sector careers are among the highest paying anywhere and range from $40,000 to $100,000 annually according to The Skills Foundation of Mississippi.”
The VWSD and CCSD Energy Academies officially launched during the 2020-2021 school year, and Entergy’s Grand Gulf Nuclear Station has supported the programs from the beginning.
Through the partnership, Entergy provides a varied curriculum of lectures, labs, field trips and research projects. With a focus on sustainable energy, students stay abreast of current and emerging technology trends in the energy sector. The Energy Academy’s model of pairing classroom learning with real-world experience is designed to connect students
with internship opportunities in the industry and help in securing a job after graduation.
“Our goal is to provide opportunities for students to learn, live and work in their communities,” said Dr. Alex Washington, Entergy’s workforce development and diversity specialist. “After completing four years of the Energy Academy and getting a strong STEM foundation, we hope graduates will consider a trade school, such as welding or electrician programs, community college or a four-year degree. Throughout the Energy Academy, students will learn the pathways they can take to enter the energy industry. We’re very excited to partner with two school districts within a few miles of Grand Gulf, the fifth-largest nuclear plant in the world. The site provides so many learning opportunities.”
After the passage of Mississippi’s
Energy Academy Act in 2019, the two school districts began working with the Center for Energy Workforce Development and National Energy Education Development Project on an energy curriculum and national certifications that students can obtain before completing the program. The Energy Academy was modeled after VWSD’s existing career academy programs. Since its launch, both districts continue to receive support from Entergy Mississippi, the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
At the surface level, the Energy Academy may seem like just another approach to workforce development. What is impressive about the program, though, is the potential for
a student to completely change the trajectory of their life and where it may lead them through the variety of learning and networking opportunities. The holistic approach to connecting traditional academics with CTE courses and hands-on training supports a well-rounded education that promotes community prosperity, leadership development and educational equity.
The Hinds Community College (HCC) Vicksburg-Warren campus houses VWSD’s Energy Academy, allowing students to receive instruction from HCC faculty who have a shared teaching appointment with the school district.
Students also have access to a large shop where they work with large machinery and put their technical
skills to practice. Energy Academy instructor James Ross teaches students how to read a voltmeter, run 3D printers, use hand and power tools and utilize CAD programming, just to name a few.
Energy Academy students can also utilize the HCC Vicksburg-Warren campus’ FAB Lab, a free resource made available to students and the community. Instructor Caitlin O’Brien introduces laser engraving equipment, a CNC router, vinyl cutter and much more to help students gain
the skills that will set them up for career success in the energy industry.
Dr. Prentiss McLin, the academy business liaison and coordinator for the VWSD’s CTE programs, said the Energy Academy leadership team worked hard to develop a program model that provided the most innovative approach to meeting the needs of today’s workforce and, in turn, has connected students with vast career possibilities in the energy sector.
“The academy has introduced young people to the possibilities that
exist in the energy industry when they are supported in the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” McLin said. “The district’s vision for each of its graduates goes well beyond walking across the stage at the end of their senior year in high school. The VWSD is committed to creating graduates who are prepared for college, career and life and encourages students and their families to explore the possibilities that CTE offers, especially in the area of energy careers.”
Center Hill High School is literally growing thanks to Angel Pilcher and her garden/farmyard.
Pilcher has been a teacher in the DeSoto County School district for the past 16 years, eight of which have been up on “The Hill.” She teaches Nutrition and Wellness and Resource Management at the school.
But over time, Pilcher has gathered a menagerie of barnyard animals and garden items her students have embraced and cared for as object lessons for many academic areas.
“We’ve got ducks, turkeys, rabbits, chickens and quail,” Pilcher said. “We’re growing potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, some garlic, onions, pumpkins, squash, watermelons; we’ve got a lot. Anything that can grow in our area, we have out there.”
One has to wonder what a mini-Old McDonald’s Farm is doing on the campus of a large high school, but Pilcher said the animals and plants can be used to teach several academic areas, all centered on STEM.
“Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,” Pilcher said. “We’re using all of the different state-tested information and what’s making it real. We’re incorporating all of the different subjects that they have. We even have them writing different children’s stories or short stories based on their favorite animal.”
Pilcher said students can get introduced to the many career areas of agriculture if they are interested. “We never run out of things to relate to what we’re doing out there,” Pilcher said.
Much of the area has been paid for through grants, beginning with the first grant Pilcher received a number of years ago through a Foundation for Excellence grant from Michael Hatcher and Associates, an Olive Branch landscaping company.
“I got two raised beds, so we started that up here on The Hill,” Pilcher said. “The kids got to plant what they wanted and harvest it. I wanted to add on to that and I got really interested in chickens, so we added chickens for eggs in our cooking lab. It just went on and on.”
Pilcher estimates she has received around 35 grants for the farm and garden that were funded through donorschoose. org, along with grants from places like Tanger Outlets, Lowe’s Toolbox for
Education, which provided a $5,000 grant for the greenhouse, and Home Depot.
Recently, Pilcher and Center Hill received a gift from Michael Hatcher and Associates — a Learning Center outside as part of the farm area.
“It’s a learning garden and Michael Hatcher desperately wanted to give us one,” Pilcher explained. “I didn’t have to write a grant for it, and I didn’t even ask for that. It was a gift. It’s such a beautiful addition. The botany class goes out there; we get as many classes to go out there as possible.”
In addition to the classes that are held there during the school day, the farm hosts field trips for elementary students and workshops through DeSoto Soil and Water Conservation, plus Methods of Family and Consum-
er Sciences endorsement training for Mississippi.
“We use our eggs, produce and herbs in our cooking labs,” Pilcher said. “We have a greenhouse with a hydroponic system, rain barrels and compost bin. We experiment with aquaponics and hydroponics in the classroom.”
Pilcher feels teaching in the atmosphere with the farmyard aids students in the learning process.
“It’s very rare that we have someone who is not engaged out there,” she said. “We hit so many different learning styles. Collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, all of those things are happening, all of the time. Not to mention the interaction.”
By Will Graves
Two Lamar County Center for Technical Education (LCCTE) instructors received high honors at last summer’s MS ACTE Conference in Biloxi.
Aimee Reams was named the MS ACTE Teacher of the Year; her colleague Selena Parker, LCCTE’s Engineering instructor, was recognized as the MS ACTE New Teacher of the Year award recipient.
Most educators would likely agree that teaching is more than a profession — it is a
way of life. As LCCTE’s Teacher Academy instructor, Reams has the unique opportunity to share her passion for learning and teaching with the next generation of educators.
Though a relative newcomer to the world of career and technical education (CTE), Reams has 20-plus years of experience in diverse teaching roles. LCCTE Director Suzanne Kelly said that expansive teaching experience made Reams a perfect fit to take the lead with the academy.
“She’s had a lot of great experiences throughout her career, which made her the best candidate for the Teacher Academy position,” Kelly said. “With a background teaching in public, private, charter and tribal schools — both large and small —
she has been outstanding at connecting her students with career resources to prepare them to become educators.”
For Reams, joining LCCTE in 2019 came at the perfect time.
“After 24 years spent in elementary education, I knew I wanted to do something different, but I also knew I did not want to get out of the classroom,” Reams said. “I had no idea that the Teacher Academy even existed, and as soon as I heard about this class I knew that what I wanted to do was work with high school students, give them experiences and help see if we can inspire some future teachers.”
Reams advises LCCTE’s local Educators Rising chapter, the CTE student or-
ganization for aspiring teachers. All of her students are members of the organization, which provides a range of leadership and career development events, competitions and community service opportunities.
Reams has been amazed by her students’ outstanding achievements in their Educators Rising competitive events. They have consistently placed at the state level, and last year, 11 students advanced to compete on the national stage in Orlando.
With service being a major component of Reams’ teaching philosophy, she helped get her Educators Rising students involved with area parent-teacher organizations and got them invited to serve as panelists at a statewide symposium discussing the teacher shortage in Mississippi. Overcoming the teacher shortage is a big motivator for
Reams, and seeing students get excited about education drives her to keep changing lives.
“Teachers make such an imprint on students,” she said. “You remember your great teachers and remember your bad teachers. If someone has the heart and drive to be a teacher, I look at what they can do for other students because teachers make such a difference. We need that influence if we want to touch other lives and inspire love, not hate in the world. To make a difference in our society you have to have good strong role models in the classroom.”
Though many educators likely begin their careers in the classroom after completing a traditional educator preparation program,
some teachers enter the field of education after working in another field or industry. In CTE, having this real-world applied knowledge and field experience can help students make meaningful career connections.
Before joining the faculty at LCCTE in 2019, Parker was working in the engineering field when two teacher friends mentioned LCCTE was looking to fill an engineering teacher position that required an engineering degree.
Becoming a teacher was never in her plans professionally, but Parker said she felt led to pursue the opportunity to make a difference.
“It was all God pushing me along the way,” she said. “ I never had an inkling to ever become a teacher. I went to school, got my chemical engineering degree and was work-
ing in a lab here in town when I heard about the opportunity. I started work the same day students started, and though it’s been a steep learning curve from the beginning, it’s been one of the most amazing experiences.”
As an engineer, Parker is no stranger to adaptation and innovation. Becoming a new teacher during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic had its challenges, but her industry experience helped her
teach her students the importance of adaptability, a highly sought-after trait when looking for a career.
“I think it really helped being in industry,” Parker said. “I used the pandemic to explain how in industry when a major impactful event happens, you have to adapt because you want to keep your doors open and don’t want layoffs to happen to your employees. I got the students to think about
things you can do to keep your business afloat and everyone safe. It’s all about showing them how we can keep the real world moving and working.”
The pandemic may have paused many CTE activities like student organization events, but Parker was ecstatic when her Technology Student Association (TSA) chapter competed and placed at the district and state levels last year, earning them the opportunity to compete nationally.
Outside of competitions, Parker and her students also work on many community outreach projects, such as designing and constructing projects at the different school campuses in the district. They also partner with Reams’ Educators Rising chapter and LCCTE’s HOSA chapter to host seasonal community service projects.
Kelly sees Parker’s impact on students and praises her for going above and beyond to develop good citizens with a heart for strengthening their community.
“One of (Parker’s) greatest contributions to LCCTE is having students complete the program prepared for college and career,” Kelly said. “She focuses on developing productive citizens who are aware of our community needs. She even had a former student come speak to her classes about how his engineering education translates into his job as a U.S. Marine.”
Parker will be the first to tell you she prefers to be “behind-the-scenes.” Still, after making an unexpected career shift right before a worldwide pandemic, she feels thankful for the opportunity to make a difference in her students’ lives and knows she is now doing exactly what she was meant to be doing.
“It is an absolute honor to receive this award. For me, it solidifies that I know I am right where God wants me, and I am doing everything I can to help these students,” Parker said.
New Albany School of Career and Technical Education’s CTE Corner was an idea of Early Childhood teacher Kimberly Langley. The space offers classroom lab experiences and a quiet, relaxing area for students and faculty.
A group of students relax in the CTE Corner during Vision time, a break where students can attend various interest groups and locations in the school.
This fall, New Albany School of Career and Technical Education Early Childhood teacher Kimberly Langley created a CTE Corner that offers a quiet, relaxing space for students and faculty.
In addition to being a calming space, the CTE Corner offers a classroom lab experience for her students to practice the social-emotional skills they learn in her course.
Langley’s 23 years of teaching experience inspired the space. She views school as a safe place and, as a teacher, desires to make students feel safe and excited to come to school.
She says that educators must continue finding ways to meet the needs of all students, especially the social-emotional needs that are sometimes overlooked.
Engineering I students at St. Martin High School’s Jackson County Technology Center took a GenSea industry visit this fall. Students experienced University of Southern Mississippi’s Thad Cochran Aquaculture Center in Ocean Springs and their Marine Research Center (MRC) in Gulfport. At the Aquaculture Center, students learned about raising fish and oysters. The MRC exposed students to unmanned underwater remotely and autonomously operated vehicles and marine-related engineering fields of study.
When Millsaps Career and Technical Center (Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District) Director Lenora Hogan participated in a food services class under the same roof 33 years ago, she never imagined she would be working in career and technical education (CTE) today.
“It’s amazing that I’ve gone from student to secretary and now to the administrator for Millsaps,” Hogan said.
Now — after seven years as Millsaps’ administrator — she is the Mississippi Association for Career and Technical Education (MS ACTE) Administrator of the Year with a list of administrative successes that also enabled Millsaps to receive the MS ACTE 100% Achieve Award for five consecutive years.
Her excitement about CTE is nothing short of contagious.
“Everything about CTE is a jumpstart to the rest of a student’s life, whether they go to college or start a career. From the hands-on instruction to participating in student organizations, students have experiences of a lifetime,” Hogan said.
When Hogan became Millsaps’ director in 2016, there were five skills programs, and the center did not have a counselor. Hogan added construction, culinary arts, C Spire cyber education, health science, keystone, law and public
safety, sports medicine and unmanned aerial systems to the center’s offerings. She also hired a counselor.
“Only two student organizations were participating in competitions,” Hogan said. “We now have every organization competing at all levels. We had [all but one group] win at the state level and advance to nationals, spending more than $60,000 [on opportunities for our students].”
Hogan also helped implement the career academy model at Starkville High School (SHS) and assisted other Mississippi schools in starting them.
SHS Principal Dr. Darein Spann said Hogan “works tirelessly finding ways to increase capacity for students and improve each program we offer.”
Hogan attributes her love of CTE to her own stellar experience as a senior in the food services program at what was then called Millsaps Vocational Center. The class and accompanying competitions provided her with many experiences that opened her eyes to the benefits CTE provides students.
“I loved everything about that class, from making biscuits from scratch to decorating cakes and participating in the Future Homemakers of America (HERO) Club. I remember winning at the local and state levels and going on to the national stage in Anaheim, Calif., where I won a gold medal for cooking shrimp fettuccini Alfredo, salad and strawberry shortcake,” Hogan said.
“Not only was winning that medal memorable, but I will never forget it because I flew on an airplane for the first time. I also went to Knott’s Berry Farm, Sea World and Disneyland. It was an amazing experience. I share my experience to encourage students to join the student organizations.”
Because of her passion for CTE,
Hogan’s list of achievements does not end with her MS ACTE recognition. Hogan was selected to serve on several local and statewide advisory committees, including Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann’s Advisory Council for the second year. The Mississippi Department of Education tapped Hogan to help write the Mississippi Middle School Transition Toolkit, and she was recently chosen to mentor new CTE directors.
There is no doubt an administrator like Hogan is vital to advancing Mississippi’s education.
“For Mississippi to succeed, our public schools must succeed,” Hosemann said of his advisory council in a press release. “This requires us to listen to educators and address their needs.”
As far as addressing the needs of CTE on advisory committees and in the community, Hogan is not shy. After seven years as an administrator and a lifetime in CTE, she is well-versed in promoting the prospects and triumphs of CTE.
“If there’s something to do regarding CTE, I’ll definitely try it,” Hogan said.
“I love being a resource for other CTE administrators. Being recognized as Mississippi’s CTE Administrator of the Year and representing the state in Region IV is confirmation that I’m doing what’s right.”
Even with so many duties that call upon Hogan’s expertise, she says the best part of any day or week is seeing her teachers and students interact in the field or lab. “To see students connect to what the instructors are teaching is so refreshing. It assures me that they will be all right,” she said.
“[Hogan] is so deserving of this award. She will represent this honor with extreme integrity and the utmost respect,” Spann said.
Hogan’s dedication to CTE, her students, families, business partners and community has become the fabric of her approach at Millsaps.
“I feel that I am called to serve. I enjoy helping others to get where they need to be,” she said. “The potential each student has motivates me to work harder to provide more opportunities for them as well as show them what they can do.”
Jackson County Technology Center (JCTC) educators Gena Heffner, Kimberly Endt, Rickey Corker and Connie Goff announced their retirement in 2022 after combining for more than 132 years in education.
Heffner has taught Teacher Academy since JCTC implemented the program 10 years ago. She brought 20 years of education experience to JCTC, and her program has consistently finished top in the state and achieved dual credit status with William Carey University. Her students won the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program (METP) scholarship 12 times.
“You do not have to win METP to be successful; some students start as teacher assistants and return to school,” Heffner said.
CTE is a lifestyle for Heffner’s family. Her children completed CTE pro-
grams, and her husband teaches welding at JCTC. In her time at JCTC, she has seen the value of work-based learning and how significantly teaching skills can grow from teaching contact.
Endt served as the student services teacher for four years after teaching students in grades 7-12 for 25 years. Endt coordinated JCTC’s ACT WorkKeys efforts, helping students improve their pass rate (Silver and above) from 94% in 2020 to 100% in 2022.
Endt’s two daughters are CTE completers, and her husband works in the district in special education. The evolution of CTE surprised Endt when she joined JCTC four years ago, and she wishes every student would enroll in a CTE program.
“The staff is totally dedicated and invested in students’ futures and keeping them on the right track,” Endt said.
Corker retires after 14 years at the helm of the center’s information technology program and 28 years in Alabama as a coach, science teacher and technology trainer. He initially applied as a science teacher at St. Martin High School; luckily, when the principal viewed his résumé, it was sent directly to JCTC.
Corker reinvented his teaching style as JCTC’s IT instructor. He says he came to JCTC to teach technology, but he learned the value of CTE’s emphasis on practical application and its importance to students’ successful futures.
Under his tutelage, his students obtained more than 500 certifications in Microsoft Academy, and numerous Comp TIA certifications.
“I hope my legacy is for students to learn from hands-on troubleshooting, value each other’s opinion and work as a team,” Corker said.
Holmes County Career and Technical Center business, marketing and finance teacher Bessie Dedeaux (second from left) assists students Nic’Tavious Dawson (l-r), Kasmin Thomas and Marshay Stewart in showcasing their items at the center’s first student showcase.
Community members enjoy viewing all of the items made by Holmes County CTC students and showcased during the center’s first student showcase.
The Holmes County Career and Technical Center (CTC) hosted its first CTE student showcase in 2022.
Shintri Hathorn, Holmes County CTC director, said the idea of the showcase stemmed from the center’s leadership team seeking additional ways to promote the center and the skills the students were learning to the local community.
The center planned the showcase in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to provide the skills, community service projects, preparation for national certification and exams, student organization competitions, college and industry tours and other components essential to the center’s excellence.
The showcase allowed the community to witness how students can apply the handson skills they learn to real-world projects. Students entered items they have built, created, assembled, designed and grown at the center, and several attended to describe, market and answer visitors’ questions regarding the displayed items. Some of the student-created items included fire pits, planter boxes, raised garden growing tables, birdhouses, doghouses, shoe racks, key chains, jewelry, door signs, breast cancer awareness tabletop symbols, flowers and squirrel feed-
ers. Health science students provided basic health screenings (glucose and blood pressure checks) to community members.
Students enjoyed engaging with community and business members while browsing and taking an interest in their creations. This interaction with the local community made
their learning relevant to them and allowed them to implement the management and leadership skills acquired in their programs. Students assisted with setting up, arranging and pricing items, determining which items to include and explaining the design and creation of the projects.
Veteran Madison Career and Technical Center (MCTC) teachers Shari Dantzler and Laura Beth Guynes have dedicated themselves to growing Madison County School District (MCSD) students and connecting them to workforce opportunities.
Whether it is teaching skills to future educators or introducing industry to the future workforce, MCTC Director Cody Zumbro says Dantzler and Guynes strive to go the extra mile to help their students and colleagues find success.
“They’re great people,” Zumbro said of Dantzler and Guynes. “They are wonderful teammates. They love seeing their students succeed, and they love helping
their fellow teachers any way they can. They’re great leaders in our school and community.”
That willingness to go the extra mile earned Dantzler, MCTC’s Educator Preparation (Ed Prep) teacher, the 2022 Mississippi Association for Career and Technical Education (MS ACTE) Teacher Educator of the Year and Guynes, one of the district’s work-based learning (WBL) coordinators, the 2022 MS ACTE Counseling and Career Development Professional of the Year.
Dantzler’s 16-year teaching career spans the elementary, middle and high
school levels. She uses that experience to support her current and future educators.
The sixth-year Ed Prep teacher has dedicated herself to preparing MCTC students who might consider a future career in education while also mentoring fellow MCSD teachers who desire to further their education.
Receiving news that she had been named the 2022 MS ACTE Teacher Educator of the Year was validation for her hard work and assured her she made the correct career choice.
“It means so much because teachers often don’t get the recognition they deserve,” Dantzler said. “To be able to work with students and my fellow educators and be recognized for that gives me val-
idation that this is where I’m supposed to be. Receiving this award reminds me how much I enjoy teaching.”
Dantzler grew up in a family of teachers, but she sought a different path in college and obtained a biology degree. Family and other obligations caused her to pause a career in the field, so she started substitute teaching. Dantzler fell in love with working with students, so she returned to school to obtain a master’s degree in education degree.
She started teaching fourth and fifth grade math and transitioned to middle school teaching Information Communication Technology (ICT), now known as Cyber Foundations. The latter gave Dantzler her first foray into career and technical education (CTE).
Dantzler did not know about the Ed Prep pathway until MCTC’s then-director, Dr. Aimee Brown, sought out her interest in the position.
“I thought it was an amazing opportunity to work with the next generation of teachers and teach them things I didn’t know coming into it,” Dantzler said.
According to Zumbro, Dantzler’s passion for education comes through in her devotion to helping her students find success in the program.
“She’s passionate about her students and helping them succeed. She tries to lead them and foster their knowledge for education and what it means to be an educator,” Zumbro said. “You can see how much she loves her students.”
Dantzler shares what she has learned in her 16 years in education and exposes her students to teaching through first-hand experiences in various MCSD classrooms.
“It makes them appreciate the profession more, especially as students, because they see everything teachers have to do. It allows them to gain a new appreciation for their teachers,” she said. “I
like exposing them to it, and I think they appreciate it.”
Dantzler says her students might know what area they want to focus on but having those different classroom experiences might shape a different path as it did for her.
“I loved elementary and middle school, but high school is a different world for me,” Dantzler said. “I never thought I’d teach high school. You don’t know what’s for you until you try it.”
Some of her students take Ed Prep with no intent to pursue an education career, but Dantzler encourages them not to rule it out because they might change their minds and return to it as she did.
William Carey University (WCU) offered that path for her to get an education degree, and now she supports fellow MCSD teachers who elect to further their education through WCU by helping them register for courses and select
the program and degree track they want to pursue.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she would host weekly meetings where the teachers working on different degrees could collaborate.
“They were working through the same classes together, so I was there for extra support and helping them navigate different assignments. When you’re out of school for a while it’s tough to go back and do it online,” Dantzler said.
Having the opportunity to guide the next generation of educators while supporting her peers provides Dantzler assurance that her decision to enter the classroom was the right one.
Guynes grew up with a mother who was a teacher and a father who was in sales and marketing. While she knew
teaching was what she wanted to do, she also thought about following in her father’s footsteps.
Regardless of the career path she chose, the MCSD alumna wanted to stay at home and contribute to the Madison community. As a WBL coordinator in the MCSD, Guynes gets to utilize aspects of both of her parents’ professions in growing a future workforce she hopes stays in Madison County.
She has served MCSD as a WBL coordinator for seven years, working with traditional WBL students and providing WBL opportunities for students in the district’s Career Academies.
Guynes said she has poured so much into the MCSD’s WBL program because of its importance in growing the future workforce for the community she loves dearly. That is why receiving the news that she was the 2022 MS ACTE Counseling and Career Development Profes-
sional of the Year gave her so much joy.
“I worked so hard for the years when I was the new teacher doing this. It was not easy,” Guynes said. “I was humbled that anyone would notice, and to receive this recognition is a tremendous honor.”
Guynes found her calling working with high school students. She started her education career in the elementary classroom and thought she had followed the incorrect career path.
“I thought, ‘Oh no, I’ve made a mistake,’” she said. “At the time, I was helping with youth in our church, and I realized that high school was the age bracket I should be teaching.”
Her high school journey started with the GED program. Realizing her students needed more than sitting in the classroom all day, she worked with the district’s Cooperative Education teacher to help her students with interviews and job shadowing.
That teacher decided to retire, and with the GED program going away, Guynes moved into the role as it transitioned into WBL and has helped the program flourish.
“(Guynes) has formed so many partnerships with local business and industry,” Zumbro said. “She has been integral in planning college and career days in our school and growing the amount of support we receive from the community.”
Through WBL, she ensures students receive mentoring and college- and career-readiness preparation with industry partners to make them more well-rounded and develop their hard and soft skills.
“Nothing can replace getting out there and using those soft skills. We practice handshaking and making eye contact. We develop résumés and cover letters,” Guynes said. “The students giggle, but you cannot replace that when it’s real. We spend the better part of nine weeks
working on and getting feedback — from myself or area companies — on résumés to help make them career ready.”
While many teachers spend the entirety of their day inside the school building, Guynes spends a large amount of time in the community meeting with industry and government professionals to expand her WBL network.
“You need that network to make it all work,” she said. “Even if you’re not working directly with a business owner, you’re always getting input from outside the classroom for this type of course. You’re teaching them in the classroom, but you want them out working in the field. That’s why those connections are so vital.”
Guynes says the time spent making those connections can be exhausting, but it is essential in avoiding the vacuum effect that can occur when the focus remains inside the school building.
“I’m a teacher, but in reality, I’m a teacher that is educating the next workforce,”
Guynes said. “Sometimes, as teachers, we forget that because we are so goal-focused on the student, but that big picture is paramount in getting business and industry in the state of Mississippi, which then makes sure our schools stay great.
“You have to get out there and show who you are and who you represent. You won’t get all the opportunities for your students if you don’t get out for them. Learn who they are and let them know who you are; those opportunities will fall in your lap at that point.”
Guynes sees herself as a facilitator between industry and Mississippi’s future workforce, and she is excited to see students’ career exploration opportunities expand through WBL.
“It’s an incredibly valuable opportunity for the students,” she said. “Work-based learning and the process that molds the education and professional sides together are important for making our community stronger and our workforce better.”
Laurel High School Health Science 2 students completed the Human Growth and Development unit and learned about the different life stages and the appropri-
ate physical, mental, social and emotional development associated with each. Each student had to create a cereal box related to a pre-assigned life stage
that included the life stage, pertinent information, an appropriate prize and three pictorial representations of the assigned life stage.
Newton Career and Technology Center’s Educators Rising chapter recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the national competition.
Those attending included (front row, l-r) Kacie Johnson, lesson planning; Samaria Johnson, state president; Isyss Jones, lesson planning; Shanavia Graise, judge; Chafony Poole, teacher and judge; (back row, l-r) Tristian Snow, lesson planning; Dr. Kevin Carter, director and judge; and Marquise Poole, state treasurer.
Jones won second place in lesson planning and delivery for STEM.
Students in the Educator Prep and Health Science programs at the Grenada Career and Technical Center (GCTC) assisted with Bull Bottom Farms’ Special Needs Day in October.
Located in Duck Hill, Bull Bottom Farms provides a corn maze, pumpkin patch and other fun activities during the fall.
The GCTC students helped special
needs students participate in fun activities such as the big slide, treehouses, corn pit, zip line and big pillow, and they provided valuable assistance to parents and teachers.
