P r i n c i p a l , P a u l C h r e s t m a n

Staff

Paul Chrestman– Principal

Adrienne Sims-Gross– Assistant Principal

Donna Chrestman– Health Sciences– Y2

Christy Rochelle– Culinary Arts

Austin Miller– Automotive Service Technology

Emily Faulkner– Student Services Coordinator

Ellen Graham– Health Sciences– Y1

Theresa Holland– Engineering & Robotics

Teri Lynn Gordon– Digital Media Technology

Bryan Hudson– Information Technology

Natalie Humphries– Counselor

Jim McAsey– Construction

Logan Francisco– Student Services coordinator

Ricky Smith– Welding

Debbie Jarman– Administrative Assistant

Karen Kelly– Bookkeeper

Jerry Brisco– Maintenance

D e s o t o C o u n t y C a r e e r & T e c h n o l o g y C e n t e r

December, 2015

CTC West Times

Volume 3, Issue 1

Career and technical education (CTE) provides students with rele-vant and rigorous instruction fo-cused on college and career ready skills. According to Georgetown University, only about 35 percent of the jobs in 2020 will require a bach-elor’s degree or higher, 30 percent of jobs will require some college or an associate’s degree, and 24 per-cent of jobs will require only a high school diploma. CTE provides stu-dents with college and career ready skills that allows them to choose between going to college or univer-sity or going directly into the work-forceStudents who enroll in CTE courses are just as likely as those who don’t to pursue a four-year de-gree.

CTE is successful because it em-beds core academic skills into real world application. Students taking CTE classes are more likely to graduate because of the relevancy of the instruction and the hands-on instruction that engages CTE stu-dents. In addition to the program specific technical skills, CTE cours-es also teach employability skills such as effective communication, team work, and problem solving.

CTE works for students by provid-ing real world skills that can lead to either post-high school education or employment in the workplace. CTE works for business by providing skilled workers in high demand em-

ployment areas. CTE works for communities by helping students become productive citizens. For more information about career and technical education you can go to the Association for Career & Tech-nical Education’s website at www.acteonline.org. I also en-courage you to follow us on Twitter (@careertechwest) or on Instagram (@careertechwest) to see our stu-dents and teacher in action.

CTC West

The Automotive

class has been

‘gearing’ up for this

year by tearing down

engines and repair-

ing them. We had

speakers such as

Randy Renia come

to speak to the clas-

ses about Toyota T

ten. We have also

covered brakes, en-

gine repair, hvac,

and steering and

suspension.

The Horn Lake fire

department also

came and did a fire

safety class which

was very fun for the

students. We are

now preparing for

Skills USA in March

and hope to take

home some prizes.

This has been a hectic, fun, and busy semester for us as we be-gan our new Culinary program. Our culinary students are busy building a strong culinary founda-tion in preparation for their na-tional and state examination in the Spring! They have been learning the history of Culinary, basic cutting techniques, work-place safety, food safety and safe food handling as well as food preservation techniques. We have been putting our skills

to the test each week as we pre-pare a hot meal for our teachers and staff at CTC-W. They are excited about learning new and exciting ways to use ingredients and love get-ting fancy with the spices!

A u t o m o t i v e S e r v i c e T e c h n o l o g y –

A u s t i n M i l l e r

C u l i n a r y A r t s – C h r i s t y R o c h e l l e

P a g e 2

C o n s t r u c t i o n

C T C W e s t T i m e s

First year students have

been preparing for their

semester exams as well

as working in the shop on

their own tool box pro-

ject. All good carpenters

need a way to get the

tools they need to their

jobs and this project has

given them a way to do

this and build something

they can use and be

proud of for years to

come. They had an op-

portunity to use all the

tools in the shop to com-

plete their project.

Second year students

have been working on

their two story framing

project honing their skills

for the upcoming

SkillsUSA competition.

They have taken ad-

vantage of the great facil-

ity to accomplish this in-

credible goal. We have

had a very low absentee-

ism rate and the students

come to class excited to

continue the

project.

that will go on sale soon. The t-shirt will pay for these students to get new equipment for their lab as well as a field trip to Memphis to explore our areas rich musical his-tory. The second year students were also very hard at work. While learning the basics of Final Cut Pro X they also exceeded their curriculum and began working with Motion to create high end titles and graphics for their videos. As

the semester rounded up these students ended with creating a recruitment video for CTC West that will be used to showcase our programs to the schools around the county. Look for more amazing things to come this spring!

care patients at Hermitage

Gardens. Students will

continue to learn about

different body systems

and the related disease

processes and hear

speakers on different

health related career fields

throughout the year.

Health Science II contin-

ues observing at our local

hospital and has added a

pediatrician's office as

Health Science I students

have been busy this se-

mester. In addition to

learning medical terminol-

ogy, legalities and infec-

tion control procedures,

they all received Basic Life

Support certification, have

learned how to suture, don

and doff and take vital

signs. This fall, students

designed and made Alz-

heimer aprons for memory

well. With Vital signs

check-off skills complete,

the students be-

gan working on prezi or

powerpoint presentations

for our Growth & Develop-

ment Unit with each stu-

dent assigned a different

age group from birth to

late adulthood. Medical

and Nursing careers will

follow this unit and well as

Diagnostic Services.

that were entered in engi-

neering competitions at

University of Memphis’s

Engineering Day. Stu-

dents spent the day tour-

ing the Engineering de-

partment and participating

in hands on engineering

activities and demonstra-

tions. Several students

participated in the Tech-

nology Students Associa-

tion Leadership Confer-

ence. Our CTC West robot-

ics teams are working hard

to get the robots ready for

CTC West Engineering

and Robotics students

spent the semester learn-

ing about civil engineer-

ing. They investigated

structural engineering by

researching, designing,

building and testing Truss

Through Tied Arch Bridg-

es. Students also de-

signed, built and tested,

engineering structures

D i g i t a l M e d i a T e c h n o l o g y –

T e r i L y n n G o r d o n

H e a l t h S c i e n c e s – D o n n a C h r e s t m a n a n d

E l l e n G r a h a m

E n g i n e e r i n g & R o b o t i c s – T h e r e s a H o l l a n d

P a g e 3 V o l u m e 3 , I s s u e 1

Fall Semester was very exciting for Digital Media Technology. The first year students complet-ed their units on Photoshop and Design and are gearing up to start music editing in Logic Pro X. Digital Media Technology 1 has a large group of very talent-ed students this year. Using the skills they learned over the course of the Semester they made posters, business cards, and even created a t-shirt design

first year students have

been learning shielded

metal arc welding and the

2nd year students have

been learning SMAW,

GMAW, FCAW, oxy-fuel

cutting, and plasma cut-

ting. We are gearing up

for district Skills USA and

hope to make it to state

this year.

The 2016/2017 welding

class has been working

hard this year on many

different class projects

and school projects. We

had a really good fall se-

mester and are gearing up

to complete the year as

well as we started. The

kids have been really into

learning this year. The

I n f o r m a t i o n T e c h n o l o g y – B r y a n H u d s o n

S t u d e n t S e r v i c e s – E m i l y F a u l k n e r

a n d L o g a n

W e l d i n g – R i c k y S m i t h

P a g e 4

Our Information Tech-nology students have been working hard this semester. The students are building their own PC’s, perfect for gam-ing. Our year 2 stu-dents are now eligible to receive college credit for this course as we are now dual accredit-ed! We had a VIP speaker from Cisco visit to discuss the world of IT. Our 2nd

year students toured Northwest Mississip-pi Community Col-lege and visited their computer programs. All of our students participated in com-munity service at Hermitage Gardens in Southaven before the holidays.

V o l u m e 3 , I s s u e 1

We are so happy to have Logan Fran-cisco join our team in stu-dent services. Her knowledge of CTE has help grow not only

our staff but our students. Student Services has hosted many events for our students as well as the com-munity. The students have taken part in career interest inventories

and resumes through MSChoices. We have welcomed Technology Foundation Teachers and counse-lors, as well as hosted middle school tours. Also, The Public Rela-tions Committee welcomed Mid-South Industries for an open house. The National Technical Honor Soci-ety welcomed 43 new members. The ceremony was held at CTC-W, members were inducted along with swearing in of the officers. We are also partnering with local business-es to have mock interviews and soft skills training for our students. At the

end of the semester the students will have a resume, soft skills train-ing as well as gone through the in-terview process. We feel this is very important for our students to gain these skills before leaving to ensure the highest success possible. We are also very excited for the upcom-ing re-cruiting events and col-lege/career fairs.

The counseling department has been busy preparing our students for their futures. This fall, we have

taken all seniors to Northwest Mississippi Community College Senatobia campus to explore programs

related to their courses at CTCW. We also took Health Sciences to tour the University of Memphis RN

program as well as the NWCC Desoto campus. Get 2 College came to present their junior and senior

workshops to all students and Bancorp South came to provide the students with an activity to under-

stand budgeting. We have begun recruitment to all 5 high schools and will continue in January. We are

looking forward to our perspective student tour in February and to begin the application process for

next year!

S t u d e n t S e r v i c e s – E m i l y F a u l k n e r

a n d L o g a n

V o l u m e 3 , I s s u e 1

Counseling– Natalie Humphries

Page 5

Awards and Recognitions

Congrats to CTC West’s MCEF Student of the Month Nominees:

Construction:

Taylor Miller

Austin Hillenburg

Welding:

Colbi Hale

Gretta McCourt

We are so proud to announce that Gretta McCourt for was chosen as the North

region overall winner for December!