Students secure their futures during Industry Signing Day

(Seguin) – The futures of area seniors was signed and delivered this past week. The Seguin Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) recently celebrated its third annual Seguin Industry Signing Day in recognition of students choosing to enter career pathways leading to in-demand careers and occupations directly from high school.

Seguin Industry Signing Day also highlights the importance of Career and Technical Education (CTE) to ensure a skilled future workforce for the Seguin Community and nationwide.

It has become a tradition across high schools to hold a “signing day” for high school athletes to announce which team they will join. There is a signing day for kids to announce where they will go to college. There is also the Skills US National Signing Day, where students sign “letters of intent” for job offers, apprenticeships or advanced technical training.

During Seguin Industry Signing Day, local high school senior students sign letters of intent reflecting their commitment to go straight into the workforce with Seguin companies or various technical schools across the nation.

During Navarro ISD’s Seguin Industry Signing Day, seven students signed their letters of intent to enter the workforce or attend a technical school to study welding, advanced manufacturing and cosmetology at Caterpillar Inc, Discount Tire, South Texas Electrical JATC-Electrical Lineman School, Texas State Technical College, St Phillips & Coastal Bend College.

Seguin ISD’s Seguin Industry Signing Day featured 28 students planning to enter the workforce or attend a technical college at Caterpillar Inc, CMC Steel Texas, United Alloy, Master’s Electrical, Alamo Industrial, St. Phillips College, Texas State Technical College, Lincoln Tech, Palo Alto College, The Art Institute of Austin for Animation, Blinn College, Texas Lutheran University,

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, University of New Mexico, Universal Technical Institute, and Ocean Corporation.

“We are thrilled to be able to recognize high school seniors from our area high schools across the community for their commitment to the skilled trades,” said Josh Schneuker, executive director of the SEDC. “These students will make a big impact on the U.S. labor market and will help to close the skills gap impacting our country today. We hope that by raising awareness of the many career options in the skilled trades, we will have even more students signing their ‘letters of intent’ next year.”

Seguin Industry Signing Day encourages partnerships between high schools and community/ technical colleges and local companies. These partnerships help to prepare students, who are the future workforce of Texas, for promising careers. That’s according to Rick Bough, Seguin ISD CTE director. Signing, pg. 3

Rembering, continued.

Ray says the heart behind the badge is what makes these men and women so important to everyone and provides reminders to the communities that they serve as well.

“Not only am a guy that has been a police officer for the last almost 23 years, but I am also a dad and I am a dad that’s performed CPR on someone whose covered in blood. I am a dad who has had to knock on someone’s door at 3 o’clock in the morning and say ‘hey, your loved one is not coming home.’ These people are human. They wear a uniform. They wear a badge. Sometimes, they’ve got to make hard decisions and snap second decisions but they are human and they go through these incredible experiences and endure traumatic stressed events over the course of a career that honestly if you are in it, doing it every day, you might just not see it so I would say that I’m glad the public holds us accountable and has expectations but I would also ask them to remember grace in it because they give up a lot to do what they do and their families give up a lot for them to do what they do,” said Ray.

Sheriff Arnold Zwicke says it important to remember these lives that have been lost. He says no matter when or where an officer is killed, it becomes personal to all those wearing a badge.

“Today is all about thanking the officers for the job they do each and every day – the jail, the nurses, the medical staff, our officers in law enforcement and it’s also the day to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their life protecting others. We want the public to know and I want my men and women to know that just to assure that the sun will come out tomorrow, we are going to put on that badge and uniform and we are going to represent those that gave their lives to let them know we are not going to quit and we are just going to keep coming and I’m proud of the job that each and everyone does here and I’m thankful for the turnout,” said Zwicke. Zwicke says unfortunately, the dangers continue to increase more and more for law enforcement agencies across the country. He says these risks should never go unnoticed.

Signing, continued.

“We are excited to partner with SEDC to recognize Seguin ISD Career and Technical Education students that have completed their pathway at Seguin High School and are ready to take the next step in their careers. For some, that means attending a trade school to gain further understanding of their craft, while for others it means using the skills and knowledge, they have gained in their CTE courses to enter the workforce. We (Seguin ISD) are proud of these young men and women and know that they will represent our district and their programs well,” said Bough.

Also applauding this type of recognition was Vanessa Ritenour, Navarro ISD CTE director.

“The challenges are getting more and more every day with the craziness in the country as well as with the growth in Guadalupe County. I remember taking office 23 years ago and trying to grasp my head around it and here came Sept. 11. of 2001 and that changed law enforcement from what it was. It was a lot of added responsibilities and things to look for and things to deal with. Now, we are dealing with the border crisis, the fentanyl crisis and everything else and the guys are just doing the best they can to keep Guadalupe County safe. I commend them for their actions,” said Zwicke.

The annual observance held Friday at the sheriff’s office also recognized National Nurses’ Week, National Correctional Officer Week and National Law Enforcement Officer Week. It was a celebration of all officers, correctional officers and nurses of the past and present.

“We are proud to recognize the hard work and dedication of our young professionals who are continuing to pursue their career pathways after high school. They have acquired real-world knowledge and technical skills in their high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) program pathways. By committing to a post-secondary/ technical education or by joining our local workforce within their selected Program of Study, these students are getting a jump start on their future career goals.

We congratulate them all and wish them the best on their future endeavors,” said Ritenour.

Navarro’s signing day was held on Monday, May 15 followed by Seguin ISD’s signing